The Grey Following: Lady of Balance
by Jokie155
Summary: Maarani, a Twi'lek woman in the Republic Starfighter Corps, finds herself at the centre of ever-increasing threats, not least of which is the future Empress of the Sith, Kiarna, set off by a chance encounter between them. While she roams the galaxy in search of a way to restore her connection to the Force, a deity of the Force watches on, waiting for the opportunity to intervene...
1. Echoes

Everyone said that smoke was what caused almost all crashes when something got damaged.

They didn't once mention actual searing flames.

Every single slap of her hand against the shattered screen before her caused the fire to lick at her gloves. Allowing the heat to seep a little deeper into her flesh.

It was a total distraction from the death spiral her fighter was falling into.

" _Blue Six, come in! Blue Six do you-_ "

Having the calls of her squad leader buzzing away helped very little as she struggled to keep the fire contained. By now it had gutted the computer systems, probably cutting off communication in that last moment. At any point it could burn through to the manual controls, rendering her completely unable to help herself.

A volley of blaster shots whizzed overhead, causing her to look up at last. Rather than seeing the battle above in space like she had expected, the view of the planet's horizon as it span wildly around filled her vision. On top of the fighter already chasing her down, she caught a glimpse of more coming in for the kill.

No sign of the other members of her squad, including Blue Leader.

"So much for backup." She waved away the smoke that was now pouring out and took full hold of the controls. Immediately she found herself unable to budge the stick. The sheer forces occurring around her were keeping the atmosphere control surfaces locked in place. That or damage from enemy attacks had done so permanently.

She could only consider the possibilities for so long before descending into a panic. The thick jungle right in front of her eyes was quickly rushing up towards her in a twirl of green.

As she passed through the upper atmosphere, the tightness on the controls began to ease up slightly. Enough air resistance to slow her descent, and relieve the pressure on the airfoils.

 _Maarani, let go of your anxiety, let the Force aid in your recovery.  
_

It was a sensation she recognized immediately. Force user mental communication. An intrusion into the minds of others so they could say words without speaking.

"Get out of my head! I'm getting myself out of this without Jedi help!" The spin she was trapped in had slowed down slightly, enough that she could actually begin to follow shapes and locations with her eyes. No obvious clearings for a safer landing.

 _Who said I was Jedi..._

That made Maarani freeze for a brief moment, terror quickly overwhelming her anger. When the moment passed, she immediately began blanking her mind of any thought or emotion. Her only focus had to be regaining control of her fighter.

 _You've been trained I see. Very quick to clear your mind. But that's all you can do to protect yourself._

The spin slowed enough for her to start pulling back. Still no sign of a clearing, though until she broke away from pursuit, it would do little good anyway. At least she could delay crashing into the trees for a minute or so.

 _Playing stubborn then. No matter, I'll be out of your head soon enough. We'll be talking face to face._

"Try it, Sith. Chances are I'll be dead before I land this anyway." By that point she was approaching the cloud layer. In the next minute, she'd either plunge right into the ground and leave a small crater, or shred through a long stretch of trees until the fighter was torn apart. Or the fighters behind would end it. It didn't seem like such a terrible way to die given the options.

 _Go ahead, try and let yourself die to escape interrogation. My master isn't allowing that._

For a brief second, Maarani glanced back over her shoulder. The fighters in pursuit had broken off to rejoin the fight in orbit. There seemed to be little doubt about who was communicating with her now. With the new choice in mind, dying on impact was now the best option.

"I'd like to see you try stopping this!"

She had intended to push forward on the control stick, sending the fighter back into a direct plunge. Between the impulse and carrying it out, her hands had been wrested free and cast to either side of the cabin walls. As she began to struggle, she looked around hastily. To her shock, the fighter itself was levelling out on its own, without any mechanical input.

 _You're quite eager to not fall into our grasp. More so than the others we already captured from your squadron. I'm sure they'll be quite happy to see you._

"What? Why are you-"

A tree branch shot right through the glass of the cabin, skewering her left lekku to the seat behind. It was followed by a flurry of splintering wood and leaves while her fighter drove itself into the jungle forest.

* * *

Normally, the observation deck was dimly lit. Dark, save for the light of the stars, and the occasional solar system they would arrive at.

For the past few hours, it had been illuminated by flashes of colour. Blaster fire from Republic and Sith fighters as they chased each other around. The occasional destruction that would mark the end of an engagement. A brief period of tranquility before the chaos started up again.

There was an odd sense of focus to be derived from the destruction. Being able to sense every time a miniscule part of the Force was vanquished. Counting the flickers as they died out.

"Darth Lasidia, we've received a new report from Kiarna. She is approaching the Twi'lek pilot, and expects to arrive at her position within ten minutes."

Lasidia opened her eyes at long last, remaining silent for a moment as she brought her mind back from the battle. With a brief word to herself, she stood back up and turned to General Morgak. Her golden eyes peered from beneath the hood, perched high on her horns. "She was injured in the crash. Instruct Kiarna to proceed with caution. Twi'lek can become very dangerous when pain emanates from their lekku."

Morgak nodded slowly, about to turn away when something else occurred to him. There was obvious hesitation on his face as he did so. "By my count, this would be the eleventh member of Blue squadron we have accounted for. What of the other three?"

"They have returned to their vessels. Thus, none of those three are the one we seek. He or she would not run from battle for any reason." Her gaze moved downwards briefly, peering through the multitude of decks to the holding cells. "Continue to interrogate the eight we have. Carefully. You will not risk damaging the mind of the one."

"Understood, Darth Lasidia."

She watched him depart the room promptly before returning her gaze to the battle. A one in seven chance they had actually killed their target was ever-present in her mind. The consequences of such a mistake would ultimately fall to her. It was her purpose to keep the fighters from being destroyed after all, not an easy matter when she didn't have a line of sight on them.

About to return to her meditation, something on the planet itself drew her attention. For the briefest moment, there was a different flicker in the Force from that of a death. And yet, the only presence she sensed was that of her apprentice.

 _Kiarna, you may be facing more than an injured Twi'lek. Determine if she is Force sensitive before engaging._

* * *

Jungles presented an odd challenge. On board a vessel, it was easy enough to locate signs of life. With so little organic matter present to get in the way, peering through walls to observe those around her was a simple matter. Plants presented a haze of sorts that she had to filter out in order to track down her targets. None so far were Jedi of any strength, which made the task harder still.

" _This is the last pilot we are after. You will be afforded some time to break her, but we cannot hold this line indefinitely. Do not indulge yourself more than necessary._ "

It made Kiarna smile just a little bit. So few were the times where she was actually able to toy with her intended prey, watching how they reacted. Seeing them struggle under the belief that they actually had a chance of escaping her.

"Understood, General. I will make contact when she is in my custody." Upon closing the link, she took a long breath and concentrated her sight into a searching gaze. Sith troops assaulting the nearby Republic base to the north. Due east of it, a second assault from their own fighter squadrons on a communications base. South of both locations, scattered wreckage from five downed fighters.

To the west, she could see a faint form of energy. The remnants of her master's power, keeping the fighter together as it tore through the jungle. Where the last pilot would be.

Now able to locate her, Kiarna focused her vision forward. The gorge driven through the trees was short, as the wings had been broken off very quickly. It left the body of the fighter itself to crash between the towering trees until it reached the ground. Her smile grew again as she saw the fighter itself, wedged into the roots of a particularly large tree.

And yet, she could not sense a life form within what remained of the vessel.

"Where have you gone, Maarani?"

Almost immediately after awakening, she began to panic. While there wasn't any immediate pain, she could feel something pinning her left lekku to the chair. Only moving her eyes, she eventually managed to catch a glimpse of the shard of wood buried deep into it.

' _Remember, under no circumstances should you try to remove an object that has penetrated your body without medical assistance.'_

"Don't pull it out. Don't pull it out. Don't pull it out." Her arms felt weak, but she had to free herself from the chair. Doing so without causing more damage would be a challenge in itself. And she had to resist the urge to pull on the shard itself.

Slowly, her hands moved up along her body. The left took hold of her lekku around the wound, the right gripping onto the head rest beneath it. Already she could tell that getting it loose would be near impossible. The sheer force had caused it to punch right through the leather and padding, which was now holding it tightly in place. She had to break the shard off from the tip.

Her hand trembled as she very carefully started to turn her head. The height at which she was pinned down restricted her movement greatly. But it was enough for her to press her cheek against the seat backing, trying to peer into the tiny gap between flesh and leather.

' _Should you find yourself trapped by the jumpsuit in some way, your first step should be to cut the material away. Don't try to dislodge anything.'_

She slid her right hand back down from the seat, moving it towards her leg where the knife was strapped on. As she did so, a few small patches of blood were made visible. Nowhere near enough to indicate she'd pass out from blood loss. It was a positive thought that she held onto.

Upon feeling the grip of the knife in her hand, she took hold and carefully drew it out. Once free, she lifted it up to check the serrated segment. None of the teeth had been damaged. All that remained was quite possibly the most gruelling thing she would ever have to do.

"Stay focused. Don't let it slip." Her eyes strained on the small segment of visible wood as she brought the serrated segment up. It settled a little too neatly over one of the bits. Sawing through without any other movement wasn't going to happen.

There was little other choice. She took a moment to reaffirm her grip, working some of the sweat that had formed away, before making the first thrust.

Her scream caused a panic among several small critters that had begun to approach the crash site.

Tears began to flow as she pulled back, following up with another thrust. However small the movements, they were enough to begin working the wound open, allowing blood to trickle down over her gloves and shoulder.

Suddenly the shard of wood seemed far more thicker than it looked. What should've taken two or three good thrusts was now taking seven, eight, nine.

On the tenth, it snapped.

Her head lurched forward as she suddenly found herself free to move about. The pain in her lekku had grown very intense, but it was better than being trapped in the fighter. Throughout, her other concern had been the Sith that were pursuing for her capture.

Again, she took the moment to calm her thoughts. Panicking would lead to mistakes, and the Sith to her.

 _I'm afraid it's too late for that, Twi'lek._

Maarani leapt for her blaster and twisted around. No approaching Sith that she could see, though that would change at any moment.

 _Oh come now. I'm going to find you well before you see me. Spare yourself further pain by allowing me to help you off this planet._

"No deal." Maarani shoved at what remained of the cabin frame above. To her surprise it pushed off quite easily, tumbling down to the ground below. Getting herself out proved more difficult as she realized how close she had come to losing her legs in the crash.

 _If it will help, you can-_

"Shut up! Shut up and get out of my head!" In the moment of anger, her hand slipped from gripping the edge of the cabin, sending her tumbling to the ground. The fall bumped the shard around in the process, sending pain right through her lekku as she landed on the soft soil beneath. This time she stopped herself from crying out.

There was no further remark from the Sith. Maarani hadn't expected it to work, but she certainly wasn't going to complain about being given a moment of peace before the end. At the very least, she was able to stumble to her feet and head towards a better hiding place.

A nearby log that was reasonably well sheltered seemed suitable enough. Stumbling into the tight gap, she quickly pressed herself down onto the ground. With a bit of digging underneath, she made a hole to look through at where she guessed the Sith would approach from. Enough to shoot her in the back before she could react with any luck.

The hard part was positioning her lekku so the shard wasn't pressing in or out of it any further, given how much pain she was already experiencing. And it had to be kept out of view, given how much blue skin and an orange jumpsuit already stood out against the jungle she was in.

She froze altogether as the Sith finally came into view. A white mask that covered the front of her head, imprinted in red by a hand. The clothes matched to a degree, red along all the seams and edges of pristine white. Blaster pistol on the left hip, lightsaber on the right. The fact that she was left-handed burned into Maarani's mind.

This was far worse than being chased by a Sith hunter.

"So you have heard of me, by reputation at least. I know that sense of dread when they recognize who has come for them." Kiarna moved into the open area near the fighter. She couldn't see the glow of a sentient connection to the Force, and yet, this was the location she had been drawn to. Even now she could sense the fear emanating from her target, just not where exactly it was coming from. For once, she was confused.

Maarani was in a similar position. Somehow, she was able to hide just a few metres away from Darth Lasidia's apprentice, the White Terror as just about everyone in the Republic referred to her as. There was no hiding from her according to the many victims she had left in her wake, despite every effort to conceal themselves.

However futile her attempt had been, it was working. And it provided her with a unique opportunity to line up a shot on the Sith. While doing so, she had a chance to look at her mask with a bit more scrutiny. There was no visible way for the Sith to see out from the mask itself, which meant she probably used the Force to track her victims down. Her hiding spot had to be even less effective, and yet the opposite was clearly still the case.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Kiarna's tone was mocking, mostly to cover the fact that she was growing increasingly concerned. "Whatever Jedi trickery you've used to conceal yourself won't last long. My master is well versed in breaking such defences." She paused when facing directly away from the fighter wreckage, focusing towards a nearby pile of rocks. A good place to shoot from. "I wasn't lying when I said I would help you off this planet. I've had my fun for the day."

Maarani was completely focused on steadying her hand. She had a clear shot at the back of the White Terror's head, right below the short tie-back of light hair. Close to the execution zone, as the gun instructor had referred to it as. Hopefully a kill fast enough to avoid giving the Sith any chance to react.

Her finger closed down on the trigger.

In the end, it was no different than firing on a Sith fighter, or gunning down one of their foot soldiers. Survival was at stake, and she had no problem shooting someone in the back.

This would still be her first Sith kill.

Her aim was true, surprisingly. The blaster shot flew right towards where she had been aiming.

Until it was deflected away by an impossibly fast lightsaber swing.

"That was rude." Kiarna twisted her hand, hurling the Twi'lek out from her hiding spot into the air. Her lightsaber shut off as she returned it to the clasp on her hip and turned to her mark. "Shooting someone in the back is dishonourable. Shooting a blind woman in the back is just cowardly." After a moment, she lowered the Twi'lek back down, keeping her pinned against the side of her fighter.

Seeing her at last only added to her confusion. Somehow, the Twi'lek was completely devoid of force energy, lifeless as the metal wreck behind her. And yet she definitely wasn't a synth droid, given that she was now bleeding from her lekku again. A void in the force, just like…

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to burn my eyes out, or cut off my lekku? I know you've done both to Twi'lek before." Her stomach lurched as she was dropped to the ground, another jolt of pain rushing into her head. The wood shard suddenly seemed insignificant when compared to being blinded and lobotomized.

Instead, she felt a bare hand tilt her chin upward, forcing her to stare right at the mask. It wasn't really horrifying to look at physically. What lay behind it was what she feared. Still no lightsaber yet. "You picked the wrong pilot to go after. My fighter's caught fire twice now, and I didn't even bother wearing a helmet."

Kiarna's hand drifted along Maarani's jawline towards the wound in her lekku. Her smile grew a little more in anticipation. "You're either stupid, or carrying a death wish. I'd say the latter given how quick you were on trying to crash your vessel." She brushed her fingertips along the wood shard, lips parting briefly as the Twi'lek flinched. "Which means you want me to kill you outright, or just end the suffering with quick cuts."

She flicked the shard, chuckling at the sight of Maarani struggling to hold back her cry of pain. "I don't intend to kill. People I encounter are just far too weak of mind and body to handle what I consider to be fun. I can't help that." As she moved closer, her thumb moved to the protruding end of the shard, ready to press it in. "I can feel your anger. At the Sith, the Jedi, the Republic. At existence itself. And yet you keep it all bottled up inside, waiting for someone to release your fury on."

Maarani's lips tightened as she stared back at the mask. Whomever was behind it was right about her anger. It had become an ever-present feeling that no amount of meditation could resolve. By all rights it should have been very strong at that moment. She only felt a cold spite. It prompted a specific thought in her mind, something that could potentially turn the tables on her captor.

"I've seen what that kind of anger did to my sister. We got it from our mother after all. Perhaps you've heard of her."

The purple lightsaber was drawn on her again, hovering just in front of her eyes. Her hunch had definitely struck a nerve with the Sith, but not necessarily for her own benefit.

"Rilana only had one daughter, after her two sons. Lie to me again, Twi'lek, and I will start burning out your eyes." Even as she reaffirmed her grip on the lightsaber, the resemblance was starting to come through. While having never met Rilana herself, Kiarna had seen Saakana up close. Already, she was noticing where the patterning on their lekku matched up.

She moved the lightsaber away from the Twi'lek's face just a bit. There was relief at having her expression concealed away. "Any child of a Jedi Master and a Sith Overseer would be strong in the force indeed. You couldn't even take a steady shot at me."

"And yet you had no idea where I was until I took the shot."

Maarani turned her head away as the humming blade came within a flinch of incinerating her eyelashes. It was already starting to burn her vision away.

"Care to explain why, Twi'lek? Or will taking your sight loosen your nerve?"

There was silence between the two.

Maarani was scared of saying anything, having already seen what they did to her sister. That fate was possibly the worst thing she could imagine.

Kiarna was attempting to reach into her mind for specific memories, without success. While she had never dared to attempt reading the mind of her master without permission, she was still able to pick up on passing thoughts and reactions, beyond the emotional ones. Emotion continued to be the only thing she could sense from the woman.

Someone had to break it, which Maarani eventually did.

"I lost my sensitivity when I crashed on a planet, eight years ago. Just about every Jedi I've met says I'm dead to the Force. Satisfied?"

That hit Kiarna much harder than she had expected. Lasidia had taught her a great deal about the previous Sith Lords, notably their downfall, and who had brought it about. It was a matter she was not capable of handling on her own. She required a different approach.

 _Kiarna. The Twi'lek is not the pilot we are looking for. Return to the shuttle immediately._

Her lips tightened.

 _Kiarna, your thoughts are closed to me, as are those of the Twi'lek. What has happened._

She waited a few moments before speaking, once certain that she would not be heard by her master. "That can be undone, Twi'lek. I am sure my master will help restore your connection."

Something was nagging at her own mind, trying to warn her off. It wasn't the voice of her master, nor was it the radio link to the ship itself.

"I'm not joining the Sith. Not after what they did to my family and sister." Maarani began to slowly move herself into a ready position. For whatever reason, the Sith's demeanour had changed in a way she found to be even more terrifying than her psychopathic nature so far. Now more than ever she had to escape. "Save yourself the trouble and run me through. I will resist right up to the end."

Kiarna's hand twisted the lightsaber around as the struggle went on in her head. The nagging had become a drive to escape. To run back to her shuttle and not look back on the planet ever. And yet, she was the one holding the lightsaber, wielding the great powers of the dark side, and had the Twi'lek on her knees. There was no reason for her to feel dread.

Her vision went dark for a moment. That was a truly horrifying moment, suddenly being cast into a total void without the Force to show her anything. When the moment passed, her prisoner was nowhere to be seen or felt.

" _Shadow Hand, if you don't respond immediately, we will send an extraction team._ "

She fumbled around the left lip of her mask for a moment, brushing over the back of her ear. Even through the glove she could feel heat emanating from it. More signs that things were not right at all. It did lead her to the communicator unit at least. "I'm here. The pilot however…"

A last, desperate gaze over the surrounding area showed her nothing of value. She was now standing in front of the wrecked Republic fighter, completely alone. "I am returning immediately. Inform any remaining search parties to keep their eyes open for a Twi'lek before they are recalled."

Before heading on the path back to her shuttle, she knelt down and moved her hand toward where the Twi'lek had been kneeling. There were definitely imprints left in the soft dirt, and she could not sense any residual energy dissipating back into the Force. Not a hallucination.

"What are you… Maarani?"

* * *

"Dark Lord, the last of our ground troops have been recalled…" General Morgak had turned while speaking, expecting to see Lasidia standing there. Instead, he found himself staring at the mask of Kiarna.

"I'm not a Dark Lord, Morgak. Not yet anyway…" Beneath the mask, she was trying to conceal any sign of concern from showing in her voice. "Why were you so desperate to get me off the surface? I was promised time enough to break that last pilot, regardless of what occurred."

Morgak scowled in response, his hands clenching tightly behind his back. "Typical Sith apprentices, full of arrogance." He turned back around, striding forward to the command platform. Only when he heard Kiarna follow did he continue. "The Jedi have arrived in great numbers, and we have what we came for." He turned his head back, glaring right at the Sith over his shoulder. "Darth Lasidia ordered you off the planet the moment they came. Only you didn't respond."

Anger began to flare up in her mind, though it was at herself, not the General. For whatever reason, she was not herself on the surface. Morgak did not deserve to hear why however.

When it faded, she turned and marched back the way she had come. "I was pre-occupied with the pilot, nothing more."

The feeling of her presence was icy to many of the soldiers she passed. None dared to comment, doing their best to avoid showing any sign of a shiver. Dying at the hands of the White Terror wasn't so much slow, as it was agonizing, something more than enough of them had seen for themselves.

"Why does she get to wear white anyway? Everyone else is…"

Upon turning one of the many corners, Kiarna stopped in her path. Her gaze was fixated on the pair of soldiers apparently discussing her choice of clothing. Already she could see the terror growing on their faces as they noticed her presence.

It was the other who spoke up, his lip trembling. "Shadow Hand, we were merely curious-"

Her hand shot up, causing both to go silent out of raw fear. They expected to feel the grip of the Force around their throats at any moment.

Kiarna's focus was not on their throats however. Instead, it was on their minds, deep within the consciousness.

 _Fear._

Silence followed her from there. Now as she moved through the ship, everyone she passed deliberately avoided looking at her.

Her seething anger continued to seep from her form right up to the threshold of Lasidia's observation room. As always, she was knelt down in front of the window, silently watching what lay ahead of them. At that moment it was their journey through hyperspace.

"Enter, Kiarna." She didn't move from her meditative posture. It helped conceal her very slight look of concern from her apprentice, for the time being anyway. "I know you believe that I have called you here, because I am angry. Angry that you tried to deceive me on the planet, to protect the Twi'lek."

"Master I-"

Lasidia raised her hand, keeping it there until Kiarna silenced herself again. "You are not at fault for your actions on the planet. That Twi'lek was, somehow. And I made a grave mistake in sending you after her without observation. She may very well have killed you."

Kiarna's face turned to a scowl, angled towards the dark form of her master. "What are you saying? Not only is she deaf and blind to the Force, she is far from the skill of a trained killer. Shooting at the back of my head was a fluke!"

"And yet, she manipulated you into healing her wound, and letting her go. Only you don't remember anything beyond her refusal to join us." In one fluid motion, she rose to her feet and turned around. As ever, her face was quite calm. "You spoke to her nicely, discussed her past. And then you closed me out when I tried to warn you of the danger." Her hand reached out towards Kiarna's face, fingertips lightly brushing along her cheek. "You are not to blame. I never anticipated something like this, so I never trained you to fight it."

In all her years, Kiarna had never seen Lasidia treat her like that. It was almost, wrong. "What is she, then? She had no connection to the Force, how could she be powerful enough to use a Jedi mind trick on a Sith like myself?" A shudder went through her body as Lasidia turned away again, slowly stepping towards the window. She had never seen her master so disturbed.

"I do not know. She is an anomaly in the Force. Not a wound, not a focus, not a void." At last, she took a long breath, the first after weeks of meditation. "We both have methods of obtaining information. If we have to scour the entire galaxy to learn more about this anomaly, then we shall do so."

Kiarna's head lowered down a little. She was looking forward to the battles that were to come, once the pilot they sought led the way to their goal. Running across the galaxy to learn about why she was subdued by a Twi'lek did not carry much appeal. "As you wish, master. What about Maarani herself?"

Lasidia glanced back over her left shoulder, exposing the emptiness above it briefly. "You must avoid her at all costs. Other, less powerful Sith will be sent to watch her movements. They will be at less risk than one so powerful in the dark side as yourself." Seeing yet more confusion on her apprentice's face brought a small sigh. "You will understand in time. Go now, my apprentice."

Another watched her departure from the shadows, waiting until she was gone before emerging. "You pretended that you had no idea what this Twi'lek really is. I am curious about that."

Lasidia didn't move from her position. There was no need for acknowledgement between them. "She is still young, and my most hopeful successor. I will not allow her to be taken from the dark side by this woman."

"So you sent her on a wild chase across the galaxy to protect her. My my, you are worried." A scaled hand raised out of the shadowy figure, pulling his hood back enough for him to look at Lasidia clearly. "I take it I am to lead our forces in search of the weapon, while you seek out holocrons and other data on this matter of yours."

"It is necessary. That woman is a threat to both sides of the Force, though the Jedi will not deal with her until she has already grown too strong. I will not see all we have worked to achieve undone by this." As they exited hyperspace, her gaze was cast to the planet before them. "The others must know as little of my absence as possible. See to it, Rak'Sakar."

Darth Rak'Sakar gave a mocking bow in response, his grin displaying every long tooth in his mouth. "I will see to it then. I almost forgot that you are incapable of enjoying battle. More blood for me to relish in."


	2. Secrets Hidden

_One month earlier..._

It wasn't a great view from that balcony, overlooking the industrial powerhouse below. Smaller craft ranging from fighters like her own to Republic corvettes were flying through the network of aerial lanes every second. Above in orbit, the larger ships could be seen moving into an array of docks. Lantillies certainly wasn't a boring place to be, but it was far from actual excitement.

"Sorry to hear about your fighter."

Maarani glanced over her shoulder at the approaching Jedi. All the way from Alderaan just to brief her on the upcoming mission. The fact that her fighter had spontaneously burned itself out had somehow become the last thing on her mind. "I'm not. Fighter is no good when it starts to blow up before I've even left the hangar bay."

A sigh followed, after which she turned to lean back against the railing. "It's set off nightmares about getting stuck in those things, haven't had much sleep. And I was never any good at meditation." She reached her hand out to the arrival with the best smile she could make. "Maarani, though you probably know that."

"Elira." As she took the Twi'lek's hand, she could see the recognition in the young woman's eyes. "Yes, the same Elira who trained one of your brothers, and sister in succession. I felt it was time we talked face to face." A sinking feeling settled in as Maarani's hand fell away. About as cold a reception as she could get.

Maarani herself was already trying to hold back the bitterness that was welling up. Feelings that she had tried to bury years ago. "Well, we're face to face. After how long?" She bit down on her tongue, reminding herself that Elira wasn't to blame. It was still difficult to keep away from the sarcastic tone she often adopted. "You want to get it off your chest, or should I go first and say that I don't blame you?"

Despite the mental preparation she had put herself through, it was still a difficult moment for Elira. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. What happened was a horrific tragedy. More so for you more than any of the others affected by that day."

"Oh yes, hearing my entire family was killed is a horrific tragedy. So is being told that I'm not actually going to get any support from the Jedi that were supposed to protect them." Now that it was out, she couldn't hold back any longer. "Was it the decision of the Council to not tell me that my sister survived only to become a Sith?"

Elira leaned back off the railing as she felt Maarani's anger grow. In a way, it was somewhat fortunate that she had never developed force sensitivity like the rest of her family. "You were sixteen when we found out, a year and a half after the massacre. Our plan was to bring her back to the Jedi before Darth Lasidia corrupted her."

"Six years later, still not a word about how that's going, huh?" Maarani huffed and turned back around, gripping onto the railing very tightly. "Just tell me what this mission is so I can go and do it. No more trying to apologize for the past."

It took a bit for Elira to face the Twi'lek again. Asking for the assignment was proving to be a mistake. There was too much emotion between them. "In three days, we're making a massive counter-strike against the Sith forces. Where that's happening doesn't matter, because we'll be handling the real mission while they're occupied."

Maarani folded her arms at that. "A covert mission. You know I'm just an average pilot, there's others in my squadron alone who are better." The Jedi already knew that though. Playing dumb would get her the real reason as to why she was selected.

"This mission doesn't need a pilot."

That left the Twi'lek very confused. "What then? I really don't see what else I'm supposed to bring to this mission that anyone else couldn't. Even if it's simply a matter of my race."

Elira approached her at last, gently resting her hand on the woman's shoulder. "The Sith are looking for an artifact, and they have sent one of their apprentices to secure a clue to it's location." A faint smile began to form as Maarani finally turned her head. "I realize it's been far too long in the making, but there's a chance that this is the moment we can save your sister, if it is her."

She almost didn't believe it. The chances that everything had aligned just right were slim to none. But for the first time in a long while, she had a shred of hope to cling to.

"When do we leave?"

"This evening." Elira's hand slipped away from the Twi'lek's shoulder, moving to gently grip her hand instead. "Do you see why we waited now? The Sith have used family members as bait before, so we had to be sure they had lost interest in luring you to them." She glanced over the city one last time before beginning to move away again. "Let me know if there's anything I can do for you in the meantime."

By then, Maarani had already made a decision on just that. "There is, actually." She turned away from the balcony and reached down to the lower pocket, slowly drawing the lightsaber out. "When Kadano came home to visit, he began building it for me, so I wouldn't feel left out. He never finished it."

Elira carefully took hold of the unfinished lightsaber as it was passed to her. "He did mention that he was going to train you in how to wield them at some point." It was definitely similar to the design that Maarani's older siblings had constructed, though missing virtually all functioning parts. "After this, I'll try to arrange time to train you. I think we owe you that much. Just keep in mind that you won't be anywhere near as effective as a Jedi with the same level of training."

"I'm fine with that. For now, it's a heavy rod of metal that reminds me of what I've lost." Leaving it with Elira, she made her way back into the building itself. What few possessions she had were still in the travel case she had arrived with. "So, I assume we're headed to a remote planet, which means you did need a pilot after all."

* * *

Dark and pouring with rain wasn't how Maarani pictured the world they eventually arrived at. It wasn't listed on any official starmap, and required navigating through some particularly rough space to locate. Ideal for hiding things on.

"Sharp eyes. It's possible this place is crawling with old Sith traps."

"That's what you're here for, I've got no problem following." The rock beneath them so far was near black, only visible because of the rainfall giving it a reflective surface. What little plant life to be found around them was covered in thorns. "I can see why they must've liked this place back in the day though. Natural death trap without adding whatever else."

Elira glanced back at Maarani, barely able to see her now that they were both in dark clothing. "I wasn't kidding when I said they'd be crawling. There could be any number of creatures they mutated into sentries for this." Her head turned back towards the cave structure ahead of them. "On top of the mines and poisonous gas. They never were an original lot."

"Is this how you train all your padawans? Get them worked up and depressed only to uplift them a few seconds later? I'm waiting for the positive now." All she received in response was a handwave for her to follow. "Of course, there's nothing positive about the Sith."

As they approached the cave, the lightning storm above seemed to pick up in intensity. The actual strikes were landing some distance away. A good way to narrow down potential landing sites.

At the cave threshold, Elira stopped to begin examining the path ahead of them. Something wasn't right at all. "We should've seen at least one trap in action by now. Which means they've probably been deactivated, since there are no remains to be found." She drew her lightsaber and activated it, casting a blue glow over the cave ahead. The rock further in was dry, making it much harder to see the ground itself. "I was hoping to beat her here, force a confrontation with the clue in our possession."

"Perhaps we should work out what we're doing when we do confront her." Maarani bit down on her lip as Elira stood back up and looked at her. "If it is Masaka, then she's been with them for eight years. What if she's so indoctrinated that there's no way we can get her to come back with us?" The blaster hanging from her belt suddenly felt very heavy.

"She was just starting her training when they took her. As such, she won't have an innate knowledge of Jedi techniques. Like the methods that would allow me to render her unconscious without any real harm." She gripped Maarani's shoulder again to further reassure her. "If that fails, hit her with stun shots until she goes down. I won't let this end with harm coming to either of you."

Elira left it at that, proceeding into the cave. On the surface, she could feel echoes of the Sith who had carved into the planet. Now, they were whispers, dark and terrible in their speech. Often she would glance over her shoulder at Maarani, who was clearly growing more and more disturbed as they moved deeper in.

Roughly fifteen minutes in, she finally stopped and turned back to the Twi'lek. "Maarani, I think I know what the clue is. What it's contained in anyway. If Masaka is there, and she's opened it, we may be too late." The inhale she drew was shuddering, as she struggled with her growing fear and the evil surrounding them. "You don't have to come the rest of the way. I'll call for you."

Maarani took a deep gulp, already having trouble with holding her stomachs steady. "So much for reassurance." She glanced past Elira towards the next turn in the cave. They had to be close if she was bringing it up. "I'm seeing this through. If it's not Masaka, then you'll need someone to shoot him or her in the back."

Elira frowned a bit at that last statement. "That's not the sort of thing I like to hear, being honest."

"Against a Sith when I've got no Force or lightsaber to defend myself with. I'll live with it. Let's go." She drew her blaster at last, keeping it ready as Elira moved forward again. Whatever waited ahead would be faced together.

" _Tsawak midwan woyunoks._ "

Elira froze again, her skin going pale. This time she didn't even glance back at Maarani. "That's Sith speech… We are too late."

Maarani grabbed onto her arm in a moment of desperation. A few shakes brought her out of the shock. "Doesn't mean we can't try. This is still on the Jedi to make right."

There was another pause before Elira moved forward again, now gripping her lightsaber tightly. "Then I suppose we can consider this the first lesson. This is the enemy we have fought against for so long."

Upon turning the next corner, both found themselves stepping into an aura of red light. The whispers were too loud to ignore now, filling the passageway with the ancient language. At the end of the passageway itself was a round room, in which a Twi'lek was kneeling away from them.

Any doubt had been rescinded. The markings on the lekku were unmistakably those of Masaka.

In that moment, Maarani glanced to Elira. Approval to approach was what she sought, and received with a nod.

Her blaster remained aimed steadily at Masaka's back as she cautiously stepped towards the room. "Masaka. Talk to me. Tell me you're still… you."

"Maarani…" There was a subtle head turn from the kneeling Twi'lek as she spoke her name. A glimmer of recognition. "The empty one." In a fluid movement, she stood up and twisted to face the intruders, gripping Maarani with the Force. Her eyes had turned a fiery red, and several scars had already begun to form over her face. They were spreading up towards her lekku.

Elira was quick to respond, reaching right into Masaka's mind while she was distracted. Almost immediately she was driven back out, something well beyond her supposed power. Her plan was quickly falling apart. "Masaka! The holocron will consume you!"

"I've already destroyed the personality contained within the holocron. Underestimating me, as always Elira." Her other hand lashed out towards the Jedi. The lightsaber on her belt detached itself and activated in the process, slashing through the air towards her.

Maarani could only hear the sound of clashing lightsabers, still suspended above the ground by her sister. There was little she could do but try to reach any remnant of the personality she knew. "Masaka, please…"

The distraction was brief. A momentary glance between the two, their own way of understanding each other.

It was enough for Elira to hurl Masaka back against the wall, grabbing her lightsaber before it fell. She barely had time to grab Maarani's hand and yank her out of the room before Masaka would recover.

Maarani was quick to start running once she regained control of her senses. Fear of what her sister had become was far stronger than anything else in her mind. "What's happened to her? The scars and the eyes aren't normal for Sith!"

"It's the holocron. She's absorbing the persona as well as knowledge of whatever Sith Lord created it." As they passed another corner, Elira stopped and pressed herself up against the wall. "She wouldn't have been able to open it without instructions from Darth Lasidia. And she wouldn't have it imprint itself onto an apprentice unless she knew Jedi were coming to destroy it."

A chilling cry came from deeper inside the caves, echoing around every surface around them.

Elira's head dipped as the truth came to her. "It's done. Masaka is gone." Her hand was trembling as she slowly passed Masaka's lightsaber to Maarani. "When she comes to attack me directly, you'll have to swing at neck height. We'll only have one chance at this, and I won't let you be the bait."

The weapon weighed very heavily on Maarani's hands as it was placed there. They arrived with the hope of saving what remained of her family, only for her to become her executioner. She wanted to believe it was something she wasn't capable of. That was another lie to herself. "Elira, you should know something…"

By then, Elira had stepped back out to face down the corridor, ready for what was coming. "Wait until it's done. Concentrate on the fact that we are releasing what remains of your sister from this torment."

Maarani's hands were sweaty before she even activated the lightsaber. There was little comfort to draw from the idea of ending Masaka's suffering. In a way, losing her in the massacre as well would have saved both of them a great deal of grief and pain.

Her hands began to shake, but not from the nervousness she was experiencing. "Elira, she's trying to take it!"

Elira's gaze was already fixated on the other side of the corridor. Masaka's body was staring back at her, arms slightly outstretched from her sides. The scars across her face and lekku were complete. Whatever the case, it wasn't Masaka's mind anymore. "Who are you, now?"

Masaka slowly formed a grin, raising her arms up. A red glow was emanating from her palms. "The key that opens destruction. You are not worthy of hearing my name." Her head snapped towards the corner where Maarani was hiding. "She will be, however."

Everything that happened in the next second was too fast for Maarani to process properly. The lightsaber wrested itself from her grip and flew out into the corridor. A black blur rushed past at the same moment, taking hold of the lightsaber as it did so. The blade itself seemed to pass right through Elira's own lightsaber, cutting cleanly through her neck.

She was slouched against the wall when her mind caught up, staring at Elira's shocked expression. Gone, just like that.

"Still feeling left out after eight years. I've done you a favour, sister. Stop following dreams that won't come true."

Maarani felt the anger growing as she watched the dark robes pass by her feet. Perhaps the choice made years ago had just saved her life. It certainly hadn't saved Elira's life though.

"Make me." She shoved herself towards Elira, reaching for the lightsaber in her lifeless hand. Before her fingertips even brushed the surface, she was hurled up against the wall and held there. Once again completely helpless, forced to watch as her sister revelled in the powers of the dark side.

"You don't have the right to hold that weapon. The Jedi will tell you as much when you return it to them." Masaka sneered at her before turning to leave. This time there was no haste in her step, as if there was any further need to demonstrate her confidence. Before moving out of sight, she paused one last time. "Tell the Jedi that Darth Lasidia will be the least of their problems soon enough. I do relish the idea of watching you all squirm in terror."

* * *

"I don't like this one bit."

Torbut glanced to Koor, almost bemused by the Zabrak's unusual moment of pessimism. "That's a first. What was it you said back on Metalorn?" His eyes returned to the view of Phaseera. The longing to be down in the oxygen-rich atmosphere had been present ever since their arrival.

"Misfortune is another word for sloppy work." She waved her hand at the Chiss in a dismissive manner before moving around to the lower level. From there, she approached the communications pit. "Exact count since Master Elira departed Lantillies for the designated coordinates."

"Time since departure set at exactly fifteen hours within the next few minutes."

Koor clenched her fist and turned back to Torbut above. "Time's up. If we don't extract Elira and that Twi'lek of hers now, the Sith definitely will."

"And what if they smash into us while we're travelling towards them? We cannot risk a rescue like this until we receive some sort of signal." Torbut sighed as he looked across the deck. None of the officers seemed ready to put forward any proposals. Whether it was due to a lack of ideas or fear of Koor was beyond him.

Koor herself was moving further up the bridge, looking like she was about ready to pounce through the forward windows and lead the rescue mission in person. To the relief of everyone, she settled for leaning back against the command railing and staring out at space. "At the very least we should have gone as well. We both have experience with Sith traps."

Again, Torbut found himself sighing, though this time he kept the exasperation down. "Sith traps that are more likely to activate if there is a strong light side presence. There is no use arguing about what is done anyway."

"Generals, tracking hyperspace corridor. Estimated arrival in ten seconds."

Koor immediately turned around to the leading officer, circling past the pit to see for herself. There was no mistaking the ship signature. "It seems you were right after all. Let us hope the mission was successful." She quickly made her way back up the steps, moving past Torbut on her way to the lift. "I'll meet them on the hangar deck."

To her surprise, she was promptly joined by Torbut in the lift. "I thought you didn't like being around all the shuttles and starfighters."

"You've been insisting I take more action. Besides, it's been a long time since I spoke with Maarani." He immediately noticed Koor's eyeroll at the mention of her name. That was definitely unlike her. "You still think asking her to help save her sister from the Sith was a mistake?"

"I think it was unwise to thrust this mission on her so abruptly, given her emotional nature. If she is to work with us, there should have been time to ensure she wouldn't prove to be a burden." Upon arriving at the hangar deck, she made her way out to the bustling space. Several of the flight deck crew were gathering around the landing zone as the shuttle closed in.

As it drew in closer, Koor's gaze narrowed. "I was right, something unfavourable happened. I don't see Elira, or a Sith." She increased her pace towards the landing deck, motioning to some of the nearby guards. "Bridge, has there been any contact from the shuttle since it came out of hyperspace?"

" _No direct contact, General. Just the docking request and acknowledgement._ "

"Alright, remain alert." With a nod to Torbut, she approached the shuttle door, resting a hand on her lightsaber. "Weapons down, but don't holster them just yet." She glanced at the flight deck crew, who nodded once finished with securing the vessel. On that, she moved up to the shuttle itself and opened the door.

She was nearly knocked clean off her feet as Maarani shoved her way out, stumbling to the flight deck. About to approach, she backed off as she noticed the Twi'lek was starting to cough up blood. "Med team to hangar deck immediately!"

While Torbut moved to the young woman's side, Koor returned her attention to the shuttle. "There must be dark energies on that planet. Some time in a tank should-" Her jaw dropped a little in horror as she noticed Elira's head sitting on her lap in the co-pilot seat. The wound was definitely made by a lightsaber.

"You bastard! Get away from me!"

Koor rushed back to the shuttle door upon hearing the exclamation. Maarani had Elira's lightsaber in her grasp, pointing it directly at Torbut. The look on her face was nothing short of manic.

"Maarani, the Sith are gone. Just tell us where Elira is so we can help her." Torbut shot a glance at Koor as she reappeared, her expression telling him enough.

"She was decapitated with a lightsaber. No apprentice could do that, and certainly not one who lacks Force sensitivity." Koor stepped back down the shuttle ramp carefully, very subtly reaching into the Twi'lek's mind. "Maarani, you're going to turn off the lightsaber and tell us what happened."

Maarani turned to the Zabrak as she approached, waving the blade threateningly. "This happened!" Her other hand dived into her jacket pocket, yanking out the Sith holocron and holding it out for all to see.

At the same time, Torbut took the opportunity to back away from her. His attention was fixated on the holocron as he did so. "It's been opened, and downloaded… Did Elira-" The lightsaber was pointed back in his direction again before he could finish.

"Masaka killed Elira! Because we weren't prepared for fighting a Sith Lord!" The strain on her throat triggered another coughing spasm, bringing her to the deck again.

Koor wasted no time in pulling the lightsaber from her grasp, deactivating it as soon as it landed in her hand. "Maarani…" She looked over at the approaching med team, motioning towards the Twi'lek in front of her. "Attend to her first. We need a second unit for Elira's remains."

Torbut in the meantime wrested the dead holocron from Maarani's grasp. By that point she was coughing too heavily to actually notice. "Keep her sedated until we arrive. I don't want to imagine what she's been through."

While they carried her away, Koor approached Torbut at last. Her focus was now on the holocron in his hand. "Pre-Sith Wars, perhaps? Which means they could be after another superweapon, like I suspected."

"Older. I think we're looking at something from the early Sith Empire. Lasidia might not actually know who she just released back into the galaxy." Torbut finally tore his eyes away from the holocron. Without even realizing it, he had begun to peer deep into the fine details on its surface. Even dead, there was a sinister lure about it. "Someone get a containment box, quickly."

While that was being arranged, he turned back to Koor. "One of us will have to take this back to Coruscant. The other sees to Maarani's recovery, so she can tell us what happened." He ran a hand back through his dark hair. Neither task would be easy in the long term.

"You should go. While you offer Maarani the comfort of a familiar face, she will need strength to face this." Her eyes followed the Twi'lek as she was carried into the lift. The sedative seemed to be working for the time being at least. "I will get answers, and she will return to a stable condition in due course."

A guard arrived with the requested box, opening it towards Torbut. "Admiral's been notified of the situation, he wants to know if there's any change in the plan."

"Tell him I will be returning to the capital alone. Our patrol plan stands in my absence." Torbut took great care in lowering the holocron into the box. As it left his fingertips, a sense of relief washed over him. He could hear Koor sigh as it settled into place as well. "I want the fastest vessel we have ready to leave, as well as however many guards will fit in as well."

"Right away General."

Koor took hold of his arm before he moved to follow the guard. "Force be with you, Torbut. Safe journey." She released his arm and stepped back towards the shuttle, watching him head further out onto the deck. In the next few days, she had a hysterical Twi'lek, half a dozen battle drills, and a funeral to oversee. For once, she would have to pace things out.

* * *

A disturbance in the Force was an overused description, and in this case, a great understatement. The return of a horrific pain that pierced directly into the core of her being was more appropriate. Almost identical to the same pain she experienced when her left lekku was taken from her.

That was exactly what it was supposed to feel like.

Lasidia's eyes shot open to the crimson haze before her. Where there had been empty space, a red giant was now present. And yet, they had not moved from their previous location at all. "General, scan the area in front of my observation room. I am looking at a red giant…"

She didn't even need to hear his answer. It was a very powerful mind trick being put to work, one that worked on Sith Lords from across the stars. There was only one potential source. "Disregard that, General. Have the fleet assemble at coordinates I will designate myself." As she prepared to get up, the deck beneath turned cold well beyond that of ice. Another mind trick, though this one had somehow left her immobilized.

"Show yourself!"

"I have seen what the Sith were, and what the Sith are. One is a pathetic shadow of the other, and you are one of the prime examples."

Lasidia tore her fingers from the floor at last, breaking the illusion. The red giant vanished from her vision as well. For the moment, she was free of the influence. "If you seek to mock me, you are wasting your time."

"Oh, I am well aware of this. A self-proclaimed Sith Lord, the Togruta exile who lives in hatred of her kin for what they took from her head. Physical and emotional."

A cloud of darkness formed between Lasidia and the doorway into her room as she turned around. Both hands were quickly raised in preparation for what was about to emerge. "I took the lives of countless others well before I was declared Sith Lord. There is nothing self-proclaimed about this, ancient."

To her utter shock, it was not the ghostly form of an ancient Sith that emerged from the portal. Instead, it was a heavily scarred Twi'lek, now practically glowing with the power of the dark side. "Masaka… The holocron could not have done this!"

Masaka laughed as she approached Lasidia, hovering just above the ground. "Knowledge from the darkest minds of the ancient Sith. You sought it in search of a weapon, ignoring the raw potential that had been locked away along with your precious clue to its location."

"With that amount of knowledge comes a great amount of overconfidence, apprentice."

Lightning sprayed through the air right at the Twi'lek, though it did not emerge from Lasidia's fingertips. She fell to the ground in a rather undignified manner, a purple lightsaber hovering just over her neck.

Now free to move, Lasidia advanced towards her. "No, we will need her soon enough. Do you see now why I didn't send you, Kiarna?" She knelt down beside Masaka's form, placing a hand on the side of her head. Even while unconscious, her mental defences were truly fierce. "She has absorbed at least three personalities into her own. I did not expect a Twi'lek's mind to be so strong, but this has worked in our favour."

"I don't understand, master. She seemed completely uncontrollable. How is this development an advantage?" For once, Kiarna was genuinely afraid of touching a body, even an unconscious one. Shocking the Twi'lek down had taken a significant amount of effort on her part, not to mention what her master had to have endured as the distraction.

Lasidia herself was less hesitant, running her hand along Masaka's lekku to spread them out to either side. "We learn from our mistakes." She lifted a hand to pull her hood back, brushing over the stump where her own left lekku had once been. "Make the cuts swift, and exactly where I indicate. A hair over the mark could disintegrate too much brain matter."

She marked out the lines with her finger, leaving a light impression in the scarred flesh before standing up. "We will need them later, to ensure she remains loyal. The desire to have them back will be quite strong. This is something the Jedi among my people taught me."

Kiarna activated her lightsaber, though there was still some lingering hesitation. Incurring the wrath of whatever the Twi'lek apprentice had become wasn't something she wanted. But backing away from her master's instruction was unacceptable.

With two quick strikes, it was done.

It had caused only a single flash of pain for Lasidia, watching such a horrendous thing being done to another. And yet, this was for the safety of the entire galaxy, while her punishment had been for the 'safety' of her people alone. A truly selfish act on their part.

"Take the body down to the null chamber, and have the guards inform me when she wakes. The lekku are to be frozen in carbonite and brought back to me." As Kiarna moved to lift the body up into her arms, Lasidia placed a hand on her shoulder. "You could have let her kill me, rather than come to my rescue."

Kiarna's lips tightened briefly. The thought had occurred to her, but it was only momentary. "I still have much to learn from you. I would not have known how to subdue this creature if you were dead."

Lasidia managed to form the slightest of smiles at that. "You are a proud example of a Sith apprentice. I have every confidence that you will take your place as the new Sith Lord when the time has come." Her eyes moved to the Twi'lek at their feet, prompting a small scoff. "To think she actually believed that such an honour would be hers, even before I sent her on this mission."


	3. Bloodied Hand

The sheer amount of fighting both on the ground and in the air above had triggered an early tropical storm. Rain was already pouring down, and thunder loomed in the distance. While the actual battles had finally stopped following the Sith withdrawal, the all-clear signal was yet to activate.

Maarani couldn't go on any further. Knelt down in the mud, with no idea of where she was going, and a gnawing hopelessness that was finally winning out.

First with her blaster pistol, locked away in her quarters. Then hurtling towards the ground in a dead fighter. Staring right at the lightsaber blade that should have gone through her head. Three failed attempts. Out in the middle of nowhere, with no sign of another sentient being nearby however…

 _Do it. You can't kill others despite how much you try to. Get one notch on your belt, and die knowing you're not a coward._

"Masaka…" She twisted her head around violently, looking for the looming figure of a Sith Lord coming to watch her die. Nothing stirred in the downpour.

 _And to think I was going to train you in the ways of a Jedi. You're an emotional wreck, a liar and a bloodthirsty maniac. This goes beyond disappointment._

Elira's voice, also echoing around the tight clearing. She had almost forgotten her after all the battles she had been through, in the seat of her fighter and in the privacy of her room.

 _You are an anomaly. A paradox. Everything the Jedi and Sith know about the Force says you should not exist. And yet, you are flesh and blood like us all._

"Is this your way of tormenting me, Lasidia?" Maarani nearly stood up, ready to take shots at any shadow that moved. Someone was definitely messing with her thoughts. And yet, she couldn't tell if they were goading her to suicide, or just berating her out of it.

 _What have you done to my mind? I am renowned as one of the Sith's most terrifying killers, a literal bringer of destruction. Why did I let you go?_

In a moment of rage, she grabbed her blaster and sprayed fire in every direction. Everything was falling apart inside, no doubt due to whomever was creating the voices she heard. All of the barriers Koor helped her construct had faded away. The pain was back in full force.

Smoke was still drifting from the barrel as she pressed it up into her chin. After being drenched in cold rain, the hot metal was searing against her skin. In a few moments, it wouldn't even matter.

"Go away Lasidia! Or Masaka! Or whoever you were! I'm done with you all!"

The blaster was yanked out of her hand before she could fire. It tugged her in the direction it was being pulled towards, allowing her to see it land right in Koor's hand.

"Maarani, what did she do to you?" Koor crossed the clearing before the Twi'lek could do anything else, taking her in a tight embrace. "When I heard the White Terror was roaming the jungle in search of crashed pilots…" She looked down at Maarani as she felt the young woman sobbing into her robes. "I shouldn't have let you fly today. I shouldn't have put any member of Blue squadron out there."

"Over here! The General found her!"

As the troops hurried over, the torchlight flooding the clearing illuminated scorch marks everywhere. Koor was quick to deduce it was from the blaster fire they heard. What she was shooting at was another matter. "Maarani, is there still a Sith around here?"

"General, we confirmed White Terror left the surface. There weren't any other Sith down here."

Koor turned to glare at the commander who had spoken. Even now her gaze still carried intimidation. "I asked Maarani." When she looked back, the Twi'lek had relaxed her grip enough to look up at her, bleary eyed and clearly exhausted.

"I don't know. There were voices in my head…"

It was all Koor needed to hear. So long as they weren't in direct physical danger, she could defend them. "Sleep then." She passed her hand over Maarani's face before quickly diving it under her legs. Without another word, she passed out right into the Zabrak's arms. "Commander, let's get her back to base before the storm hits this area full on."

"Understood. Form up and prepare to move out!"

As the other soldiers rallied back to the clearing, both leaders took one last look around before beginning the run back.

* * *

The mess hall was almost empty when Maarani finally entered in search of a meal. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, given the amount of time spent in the jungle alone. It had worked to calm her frantic mind at the very least, for however long that would last.

Somehow, she knew that Koor of all people would be waiting for her in the room. It was a typical Jedi thing; being in the right place at the right time. What little bemusement her presence offered was still a welcome change from her dreary state of mind. "Got dinner ready for me as well? I suppose surprise meals don't ever happen for Jedi."

Koor tapped the tray opposite her, watching the Twi'lek as she made her way over. "I think it's time for another one of our talks." As expected, there was hesitation on Maarani's face upon hearing that. "Up to you what we discuss. The fact that your fighter has burned out twice in the space of a month. What you had for breakfast yesterday. That mechanic back on the ship you consider to be cute."

"You really want to hear me talk about girls?" She finally sat down, glancing between Koor and the tray now in front of her. "Well, to be honest, cute is really all I have to say about her. She works on Red squadron fighters, lives in a completely different part of the ship…" A sigh followed as she began to stir some sort of mashed vegetable around the tray. "I don't think she's into Twi'leks, or girls, or both." Her gaze moved back up as she grew tired of dragging her fork through the mash. "Jedi aren't even supposed to have relationships, so no offence, but I don't think this was ever going to become a discussion."

A shrug was the only response Koor made.

"Very helpful." Maarani finally scooped some of the paste onto her fork and brought it to her lips. There was no smell to speak of. Tasting it was an unfortunately similar experience. "Let me guess, nutrient supplement."

"Sarkan nutrient supplement. They've been wanting to thank you and the other pilots for helping to drive away the Sith."

"But I didn't even-"

Koor lifted her hand for silence, slowly leaning forward. "Seeing as you don't have an appetite, I will tell you now that you are the only surviving member of your squadron. Out of those who encountered the White Terror, who goes by Kiarna underneath the mask."

It was only partially true that Maarani had lost her appetite after tasting the paste. The rest of it vanished as the news was delivered. After all that had happened however, she was less than shocked by that. "She said the other pilots were free to go. Typical of a Sith to lie as another way of spreading torment."

"They survived long enough for us to find them. I'll spare the details from there. Needless to say, we were all terrified when we didn't find you before the Sith left." Koor reached her hand out, taking hold of the Twi'lek's across the table. "We all know how horrific the past month has been for you. I've made it clear to the admirals that you'll only be debriefed when you feel you are ready."

Maarani took another look at the nutrient paste. Devoid of anything remotely nice, like herself. "What happens after that? They're not going to let me fly a fighter now everyone knows I'm still unstable, which means I'm not going back to any military service. And I can't go back to Ryloth, or to one of the core worlds without any way of supporting myself."

"There are other options." Koor tightened her hold momentarily to encourage Maarani to look up again. "I think it is in your best interest that we tell the Council about your disconnection from the Force. Just hear me out on this."

Despite previously objecting to the idea, Maarani chose to listen this time, nodding for her to begin.

"You've always been an emotionally driven woman, which is why the Council has been reserved about taking you into Jedi care. After your encounter today however, I believe they will have to listen." She lifted her hand away from Maarani's briefly, reaching down into one of her pockets. "There are groups of Force users that the Jedi are on good terms with. Groups that are willing to train emotional adults."

Maarani was quick to point out the obvious flaw in her plan. "I'm still deafened to the Force. Kiarna couldn't actually see me until I was right in front of her because of it. I don't see how training is going to magically make it return."

"And yet, you still keep this on your person wherever you go." Koor watched the Twi'lek's face intently as she placed the unfinished lightsaber on the table. To her surprise, there was very little reaction to it. "It needs special care, the help of someone who knows lightsaber construction unlike any other. The same applies to your connection to the Force."

"My lack of one, you mean." Growing tired of looking at the lightsaber, Maarani finally picked her fork up and shovelled a lump of the paste into her mouth. To her surprise, it quickly dissolved down, allowing her to swallow with ease. It didn't change the fact that it was still tasteless filler. "This isn't what the Sarkans eat normally, is it?"

She dropped the fork again and slouched back into her chair, arms crossed as she sighed. "I really do appreciate how much you've done to try and help me through this. But you're still only one Jedi Master who's known me for a month. I can't help being skeptical after all that's happened."

Koor shrugged again as she too leaned back into her chair. "Here I was, thinking my Zabrakian nature was starting to rub off on you." She grinned at that before rising to her feet. "There is no harm in asking them to consider this, Maarani. At the very least, we will be able to get you professional treatment for the trauma you have been through."

Maarani merely tightened her lip. Koor was determined to see it through, and there would be no persuading her otherwise. "Right after Elira offered to train me, it all went downhill. Who's to say that won't happen again?"

There was a brief silence between them, broken after Koor moved around the table to the Twi'lek's side. "There are no Sith Lords on this planet. After Master Torbut returns to take over the operation, and you've attended the Sarkan celebration, we will be free to depart when you are ready. This is still on your terms."

* * *

"Shadow Hand, the final preparations have been made."

Kiarna nodded to the flight deck captain as he hurried up to her side. Even now, her maintenance crew were quickly disembarking the _Vastes_. Those they passed on the way shared a feeling of fear in her presence. Earlier it had been because of her rage at the Twi'lek. A rage that had since settled in her meditations with Lasidia.

At the boarding ramp, she finally stopped and turned to the captain, resting a hand on her hip. "Why has every crew member of this ship come to fear me? I issued a word of warning to some insolent soldiers, nothing more." Her suspicions went right to General Morgak. Undermining the respect she had earned from her personal crews was exactly the sort of thing he would do. To anyone whom he felt didn't deserve respect anyway.

"The preparations took far longer than we expected. They've been working around the clock to ensure that your mission would not be delayed."

A snarl formed beneath her mask. "I came here because I was informed the ship was ready. After sending word that I would be in meditation until such time. There was no critical deadline on my departure." Given the captain's confusion, it was rather obvious that message hadn't gotten through. Again, something Morgak could arrange easily.

The ship was ready in any case, and she could continue her meditation while in transit. "No matter. Tell the maintenance crew I am very pleased with their diligence, and that in future, they will not work to any deadline I haven't set in person."

She turned back to the ship and stepped up inside. It had been a while since she had last set foot in the vessel. Slivers of crystal left over from Jedi lightsabers had been lined into the bulkheads, allowing her to know exactly where she was on the vessel at a glance by their distinctive colours. Her perception of metal walls was somewhat poor after all.

"On your order, Shadow Hand."

The voice drew her to the front of the vessel, where a new pilot was situated. A normal man no less. "I did not expect a pilot who lacks Sith foresight. Is this Morgak's doing as well?"

A laugh came in response as the pilot twisted his seat around to her. "I don't need invisible tricks to get you out of scrapes." He outstretched his left hand to her, a grin forming as he stared up at her mask. "Carudan, of Eshan."

Kiarna did not take the hand offered. By then, she had noticed the stump below his left shoulder where the organic arm ended. "An Echani with a cybernetic arm. Not the sort Morgak would try to leave me with, so the question stands as to why you are here in my ship." She turned away from him and approached one of the consoles in front of her.

It was a simple test to see who she was dealing with, and if he knew who he was dealing with. Where his eyes ended up focusing told enough. "Look at any part of me that isn't the mask again, and I will take your eyes for trophies."

"Typical Sith threat, physical threats that can be resolved with the power of bionics." His grin grew as she snapped back around, reaching for her lightsaber. "Ooh, snappy aren't we? I suppose I would be too if I had been deceived by a young Twi'lek woman." He leaned the chair back and crossed his arms, brimming with confidence. "I wonder if it's just leering in general that bothers you, or just from a particular supposed gender."

Kiarna couldn't keep herself from drawing the weapon any longer. It was at Carudan's throat within a second. "Either you are a Republic spy who has been spoken to by that Twi'lek, or you have been inside my mind. An impossible task for someone who isn't in tune with the Force."

Carudan lifted his left hand towards the blade, motioning for it to be moved away from his face. Once that was done, he stood back up and looked directly into her mask. "You don't scare me, Kiarna. I said I came from the planet of Eshan. Not that I was Echani." He could feel her rage growing inside. She hated not being in control of the situation. More than that, not knowing what she was dealing with terrified her, something she concealed with anger.

"Accept the fact that I am your pilot for the time being, Kiarna. I will take you to places where you will learn about this…" He paused for a moment, staring deeper into the mask briefly. "Maarani person, and you will share those answers with me."

The gaze remained on her as he sat back down and turned to the console once more. "I'll treat you nice if you also share any answers your master digs up from the libraries she's planning to visit. I wonder how she'll get into the holocron archives on Coruscant."

It was obvious to Kiarna that she had little choice in the matter. Whatever Carudan was, he could get into her mind without her even noticing. That made him very dangerous, without even factoring in his offensive power. "If you try to enter my mind again, or come near me while I am meditating, this deal is off."

"Whatever you say. Humanoids aren't the sort I'd mate with in any case." Carudan powered the ship up and prepared for their departure. As the clearance signal went through, he reached to his throat and coughed.

" _Vastes_ preparing for departure."

Kiarna yanked her head back towards him at that moment. It was the voice of her previous pilot he had just spoken with. Suddenly her disappearance was far more suspicious. "What did you do to her?"

"Floating in space I'd expect. Don't bother looking for a body, search for bile instead." Carudan coughed again, returning his normal voice. As he did so, he looked back at Kiarna with his ever present grin. "I assume you now fully understand where I stand in this arrangement."

Given they were already heading out into open space, Kiarna could only nod silently. Like Masaka, this was beyond her capability to handle. For the time being.

* * *

A thick mist had settled throughout the jungle in the storm's wake. The trees themselves had survived the onslaught, rooted deep into the planet. Many leaves and branches had been torn away however, blanketing over the muddy slop that had once been a firm soil surface.

It made Maarani's attempts to meditate in the clearing slightly less unpleasant. Every loud squelch as her balance shifted even slightly was a distraction. That, and the echoes of what she heard the night before were already returning to haunt her.

She wanted to believe that killing herself was an impulse from whatever caused the voices. She had to believe that.

Koor chose not to speak up until she noticed the Twi'lek was ready to abandon her attempt. "There's a reason why I find living on a starship desirable. I find the consistent hum of the reactor is an ideal focus for concentration." She stepped into the clearing with a level of care about where she stepped exactly. "While some would say being surrounded by nature instead of metal is more effective, there are drawbacks to it as you've discovered."

Maarani sighed as she tried to settle herself back into posture. Just knowing Koor was there made her feel like there was an expectation to continue trying. "The troops snore, you know. I hear it through the walls. That and the blasted droids' beeps and whistles as they move past every hour."

"Try focusing on your lightsaber then." She nodded to where it had been placed, resting above the ground on some assembled sticks. "You can say I've been driving that point too much all you like. I will continue to believe it will help resolve the underlying issue you face." As her eyes looked over the clearing again, she spotted what looked like a stable spot for herself.

More squelches followed as she tediously stepped over to the spot picked out. Sitting down was the next challenge she faced. "I take it you were trying to learn where the voices came from." She noted the slight nod from Maarani. "I haven't been able to draw a conclusion. Even Darth Lasidia isn't powerful enough to cause such trickery between stars."

"Masaka might be though…"

That made Koor pause mid thought. Eventually she closed her mouth and eyes, settling herself into her usual poise. "Try not to think of who you assume is responsible. Your mind must be open to any possibility, if you are to discover the true answer." Her own mind was focusing into the Force, peering back through it at the clearing surrounding them. If there had been a Sith presence, there was always the slight possibility that a trace would be left behind.

Maarani's mind had focused itself inward, delving back to the memory of the voices. Like Koor had instructed, she remained open to any possibility, including that Elira had been the one behind it somehow. "Koor, is it in any way possible for someone strong with the Force to communicate from beyond death, without having become one with the Force or however it goes?"

"Not that I'm aware of, though I know for a fact Elira would not torment you like that anyway."

She sighed at that, removing the thought from her mind altogether. "Lasidia was pretty insistent on keeping me alive, so even if she did have the ability I don't think it was her. And Masaka didn't even care about me when she left." Of the actual voices, that left Kiarna. Reports had claimed that she had left the planet, but no-one had actually confirmed it as of yet.

"You're absolutely sure that Kiarna left? If she is a master of torture, she might have tried giving it another go once Lasidia was gone."

"I would have sensed a powerful Sith like her if she had remained on the planet. Expand the possibilities beyond those four."

There was a sigh from Maarani as she began to focus on the memory again. Every voice had been right in her head. If projected from a nearby device, they would have been distorted by the heavy rainfall. It had to be from a telepathic source.

Or, she was actually having a moment of insanity.

Koor rested her hand on the Twi'lek's shoulder, once again bestowing her sense of calmness on the young woman. "The answer will present itself at some point. You will be ready for it, regardless." She stood back up, looking around the clearing one last time for herself.

The blaster marks were now more visible with what limited sunlight they had through the fog. Another sign of just how distressed Maarani was, however calm she appeared on the surface. "I am pleased to see you pursuing meditation of your own accord in any case. More, that you chose to face something you feared, seeking an answer to a problem."

She took another look at the blaster marks, stepping back towards the middle of the clearing where Maarani had been standing. "Whatever you may think, courage is something you have just the right amount of. Enough to know when to fight, and when to sit down and think things through." Outstretching her arm, she began gesturing to the burn marks, turning in a slow circle as she moved to each one.

By then, Maarani noticed what the Jedi was doing. "I was frantic, nearly emptied all the charges on that. Surprised I didn't hit anyone."

"Or did you…" Koor's lips tightened, her arm pointing towards a noticeable gap between two of the burns. A spot that had a very good view of the clearing itself. "Did your blaster misfire at some point?" Her approach towards the gap was taken with every care, eyes scanning the ground before she took the next step.

Debris from the storm had likely covered over any prints or blood left on the ground. It was something else entirely she was checking for. "Judging by your erratic fire, if someone had been here, you would've hit them anywhere from the thigh to the chest. And if they were using a stealth-net to hide themselves…" She crouched down and pulled one of the leaves away. Lying half buried in the mud was part of a power cell, partially melted by a blaster shot.

By then, Maarani had moved up beside her. Now that she had seen evidence of another for herself, her previous doubts were weakening. "My fighter caught fire twice. Masaka left me alone when she could have finished me off. All those panic attacks I went through." She knelt down and reached for the ruined power cell, very carefully picking it up in her fingertips. "Why would anyone want to torment me like that? I'm nothing."

"The Sith seem to disagree with that notion, if this was an agent of theirs. You survived contact with two Lords and a Shadow Hand, and a non-Sith agent of theirs. They obviously see something in you that the Jedi haven't." Koor turned to the Twi'lek at that, taking hold of both shoulders as she looked directly into her eyes. "Your power did not manifest until much later in life, something that shouldn't happen. And then it was cut off not long after. There is something large at work here, and we must discover what that is."

* * *

"Answer me this, creature."

Carudan sighed in the most blatantly exasperated manner he could while moving to face Kiarna. He kept expecting to see eyes magically pop out of her mask whenever he looked at it. At the very least, it would ease the tedium he felt whenever she spoke. "Ask the question and I will answer it. No guarantees about how accurate, truthful or meaningful the answer itself will be."

Kiarna tightened the grip on her lightsaber again. Irritation was a mutual feeling between them. "If you're able to look into my mind with ease, why do we not just go right for Maarani? My master was clearly not aware of your presence when she told me to stay away."

"That is still the case for us, unfortunately." He turned back and placed his right hand over the navigation computer. After a few moments, it began to scan through co-ordinates in the nearby sectors. "I am accompanying you on this search because I do not know what she is. And considering how much I know from the centuries past, that should terrify you." He lifted his hand away as a location was locked in. The hyperdrive began to power up

Far from terrified, Kiarna snarled at him as she made her way into the rear compartment. "You're afraid to look into the mind of a young Twi'lek woman."

"When you opened your mind up to look into hers, something looked back, changed you. I'm not going to risk that." They entered hyperspace, allowing Carudan to lean back into his chair. Soon enough, the chance to test Kiarna's capability, and mentality would present itself. "Good thing you like to wear white. This first stop is quite warm I'm told."


	4. Disturbances

_Two weeks earlier…_

How many times had the same answer come up? After dozens of attempts, all with some sort of change or correction to the previous attempt. They even had clear instructions to follow. Somehow, they were no longer able to punch through the warp space they were now facing.

"No effect, General. Still not picking up any sign of the passage."

Koor dipped her head in defeat, something she was not accustomed to at all. They had the original astrological chart they took from the Sith, and the navigation records from Elira's shuttle. Both confirmed they had to be staring at the passage of normal space through the chaos ahead. The holocron alone couldn't have been holding it all together.

She wanted to do just one more scan, one more computer simulation. One more attempt to chart their way through to the planet itself.

"Contact the Council, and inform them…" Admitting defeat was the last thing she wanted to do. There was still the potential for answers to be found on the planet. "Masaka has closed the passage through the warped area, and we cannot find another way in."

It left a bitter feeling all over. However much she tried to convince herself that this wasn't giving up, there really was next to no chance that they would come across a new solution eventually.

"There's nothing more to be done here. Let's head back to Sarka." She scratched at the stump above her right temple, where one of her horns had once been. It often became itchy when retreating.

Shortly after, she found herself at the door to Maarani's quarters. The door was ajar, and no light emerged from within. A cold feeling was present at the threshold.

"Maarani?"

There was no answer, prompting her to push the door open very carefully. It didn't allow much light in, but she could make out a humanoid shape sitting on the floor. Very faintly, she could hear the sound of sobbing.

The reason why occurred to her. "Maarani, put the blaster down, please." She could see the woman's head tilt just a little. Aside from that, there was virtually no movement.

"You came in and assumed I was ready to blow my head off. Why?"

Koor was silent for a long while, trying to work out if Maarani had something else in her lap. She didn't need long at all to come to her answer after all. "I've fought Sith before. I know how their influence lingers in the mind. It's been a growing fear of mine that I haven't done enough to help you through this horrific ordeal."

Maarani slowly turned her head at that, just barely catching a glimpse of the Jedi in the corner of her vision. "It wasn't ever going to be your fault." She lifted the blaster pistol over her shoulder towards Koor. As it was taken away, she turned her head back down to the other object. "The Sith killed my family. Whatever is walking around out there isn't my sister anymore." A shuddering breath rocked through her body. "I can't do anything about it, even if I was capable of seeking vengeance. Can't fight Sith without the Force."

Her body tensed as she noticed Koor circling around. At that angle, she could see the lightsaber on the floor. Still little more than a metal tube with a support frame inside, and rough pieces welded on for a grip. "Amazing, isn't it? Both parents with a strong presence, three siblings who inherited it. And all I got was an unfinished sympathy gift."

"That wasn't constructed by Kadano though." Koor had moved to kneel down in front of the Twi'lek by that point, her hand passing over the lightsaber. "I've seen the lightsabers constructed by your family. This is reminiscent of the style, but it wasn't built with materials provided by the Jedi."

She met Maarani's gaze as the connections fell into place. "You built this, not long before the massacre. They would have noticed if your connection awoke earlier, and a lightsaber is not something that is constructed while wracked with grief." It was all too obvious that there was a sense of relief from the Twi'lek. Holding onto such a secret for eight years had certainly taken its toll. "You still haven't finished it, so I assume something stopped you."

There was no stopping the flood of emotions and memories that she had been holding back for so long. After repeating the same lies for years, letting the truth out was all she could do now. "I stole a ship from my village, traded it for a better one at the first pirate world I found, and went right for Coruscant. Along the way I crashed on a planet, and woke up with no perception of the Force at all."

She took another breath at that. "I don't know when it even actually started up, maybe a few months earlier. I felt an urge to make the lightsaber, so I scrounged up what old parts I could. Wasn't until I had it hovering around that I really realized what had happened."

As Koor finished waving her hand over it, Maarani leaned forward and picked it up by the grip. "Don't even need to bring yours out to make a comparison. This is a hunk of metal with old parts squashed in. Couldn't even find another tube to cover the upper half of the frame." There was one other piece that she didn't bring up. For the time being, it seemed better to leave it unmentioned.

"So this is how you see yourself? Halted before your time? Or so unprotected and empty that there seems little point in continuing." The Zabrak placed her hand over Maarani's, gripping it around the lightsaber a little more tightly. "No-one is truly cut off from the Force. Even beyond death there is a connection. You simply need to have the will to regain what was lost, finish what was started."

"Don't give me that Jedi crap. Not now." Maarani let go of the saber and stood up, pacing away as she immediately regretted snapping at her. "Right now I'm just not ready to believe in much of anything. I've gotten this far as a pilot without the Force." As the sense of calm settled in at last, she turned back to Koor with an apologetic expression. "I know you're going to tell the Council about this eventually. Don't bother, because I don't want help from people who only care about me when I actually have the potential to become a Jedi. They certainly haven't cared up until now."

When Koor finally stood back up, she held out the lightsaber one last time, for the sake of offering it. "I'm not going to say a word behind your back. They know that you had an encounter with your sister, and that you've told me as much as you can comfortably."

Maarani pushed the lightsaber away at that moment, stepping around so she could approach her bed at last. "Keep it that way. And keep the lightsaber. I've got enough weight to carry around."

Shortly after she curled up on the firm mattress, she heard the door being pulled shut. A few hours of rest lay ahead, and yet she would remain wide awake for the entirety of it.

* * *

There was a noticeable gust of freezing air as the door was finally opened. For two weeks, Masaka had been contained inside the chamber, left to pace around in fuming silence. There was no amusement or gratification to be felt by Lasidia over it however.

"Ready to talk now?"

Masaka hissed at the Togruta as she stared back with silent contempt. Even now she was trying to strike her down with the immense powers just beyond her reach. "You continue to disgust me, using a Jedi concoction to keep me caged like some animal!"

As always, Lasidia was stoic in her speech. "You are an animal. A monster. The Jedi would consider you an abomination. To think you were once a scared Twi'lek girl, cowering beneath my blade." She didn't even flinch as Masaka tried to slash at her face. Her hand hadn't actually left the confines of the chamber. "I only did this because of your threatening presence. Had you approached with reason, I would not have taken your lekku and left you in a nullification chamber."

"Where are they?"

That brought the slightest of smiles to the Dark Lord. Her theory had just been proven to be correct. "Across the galaxy. I am willing to tell you where they are, once you have fulfilled your purpose in my plan." Her smile faded as the Twi'lek began to settle down again. There was still the capacity for reason in her twisted mind after all.

"I sent you to that planet to unlock secrets pertaining to an ancient weapon. When that goal is acheived, you will be free to retrieve your lekku, and take your title as a Dark Lord. If you try to overthrow me at any point, I will have them destroyed." The scar on the side of her head burned for a moment. Another painful reminder of what she had been forced to witness. "The last Sith triumvirate ended in disaster. When the Republic is gone, we all go our separate ways with our own followers."

"Divide the Sith?" The proposition was somewhat amusing to Masaka, but she didn't dismiss it out of hand. While she wouldn't have control of the entirety of the Sith Empire initially, she would have an army of zealots to subvert the others down the line. "It's certainly a unique approach, one I wouldn't choose. But I don't have a choice in this matter."

Lasidia's lips parted, bearing the points of her upper teeth in what was supposed to be a threatening expression. The significance was apparently lost on the Twi'lek. "We must all exercise restraint, seeing as the lack of such led to the downfall of our predecessors." After a moment, she slowly backed out of the doorway and lowered her hood back down. "There are other things you can do in the meantime, such as instructing my apprentice in the ancient ways of the dark side. I might just let you out of the chamber if you do."

When she moved out of the way, Masaka was strongly tempted to step out of the chamber and turn Lasidia into a pile of charred remains. The futility of it became apparent as the apprentice arrived, remaining just outside the doorway itself.

"This nullification has a lingering effect, I take it. And you want to use your new powers immediately." Masaka took her turn to grin as she looked the White Terror over. She was shorter, despite being obviously years older. The clothes were so distinct from that of real Sith, and her mask had every sign of being an attempt to intimidate those who looked on it. "Why do Miraluka feel the need to cover their eye sockets? Symbolism is a very poor reason."

Kiarna let the comment slide. What she had to say would go far beyond any insult that could be thrown at her by the Twi'lek. "You don't remember me, do you? I'm not referring to when I shocked you in the back two weeks ago."

Masaka tilted her head slightly, taking another look at the mask. The memories began to stir, drawing her back eight years. Her jaw began to drop.

Smiling, Kiarna moved in for the kill. "Now you're remembering. At the massacre, I was your age, still a fledgling apprentice to Lasidia. But a very good killer nonetheless. She wanted me to take down only the best Jedi waiting there. Including a former Sith among them, and her family of course."

Upon seeing the scarred hands leap for her throat, she threw the Twi'lek back into the chamber. The rage pouring from her was gratifying beyond all comprehension. "A part of you still cares about your family. Now, what were you trying to imply about my being an overly-eager apprentice, desperate to gain power for her own ends?"

The point had been made to Masaka, who approached the doorway again with a more controlled temper. Whatever plans Lasidia had for her apprentice would soon be short lived. "You play a dangerous game, blind girl." Once her mind was settled, she brought her hands together, now in a more instructive composure. "Reaction is your strength. You will be able to move as fast as the neurons in your nervous system when you have mastered this. Fast enough to kill Jedi without issue."

"I haven't had an issue with that in the past. Even when they tried to sabotage my weapon I have defeated them." There was no mocking tone in Kiarna's voice this time, nor was there arrogance. "It's other Sith I need to worry about."

* * *

"General! I uh…" Rasters was left quite speechless in embarrassment, having walked in on Morgak pouring himself a drink. It was such a vastly different image to that of the man who wielded great respect through confidence in the men and women under his command. To now see him getting a drink like anyone else would felt very odd indeed.

"At ease, Colonel." Morgak poured out another drink before setting the bottle down, bringing both to the nearby table and taking his seat. When Rasters sat down as well, he lifted his glass slightly. "I've been informed that our offensive on the Kashyyyk front is a complete success. The Republic over-committed their forces to that area, allowing for the invasion and capture of Carida. Well done."

Rasters took a sip when Morgak did, tensing only a little as it lightly burned on the way down. "Credit should go to you if anyone. Your predictions were spot on." He took another sip, watching Morgak over the glass with intent. Approval was everything with him. To his further relief, there was no sign that he was losing any. When he placed the glass down again, it was with a steady hand.

"It's quite simple. The Republic has, is, and will continue to be predictable in their strategy." Morgak held onto his glass as he began the often-told story. "My mother was a general during the Mandalorian wars. She taught everyone under her command that you adapt, or you die. The majority of the Republic forces did not adapt, so they died."

He lifted the glass up and traced his finger along the base. "Ice cracks when dropped into lukewarm water, because there is a difference between what the ice should be put in, and what it actually ends up in. Soldiers crack when they are trained to follow a specific pattern, but are put into a situation that defies that pattern. because they have been conditioned to follow a specific ruleset that does not apply anymore." The glass was placed back down as he leaned forward, hands now clasping together. "Revan broke away from the Jedi and led the Republic forces to victory, and became Sith shortly after that. What does that tell you?"

"That the Jedi were failing to do their duty, and the Republic military were not capable of defending on their own?"

"Exactly!" Morgak stood up in his moment of excitement, starting to circle around the room as he continued. "The Republic military should be capable of defending its citizens without the assistance of magical people with brightly coloured swords. Now you're wondering how that is any different from our position here, working with the Sith."

Rasters nodded slowly. That was exactly the thought that had come to mind.

"Darth Lasidia is not like other Force users. She has a very specific goal in mind, and intends to step aside when that goal is accomplished. These attacks on the Republic are not to bring about their downfall, but to teach them that they must adapt, as Revan did before us." By then he had circled back to his chair, which he gripped with one hand briefly. "Of course, that won't be enough, so we will have to overthrow the current administration to help complete the task. But, by the time we are done, we won't even need to call for Sith assistance whenever the next war comes."

It was quite an experience for the young colonel, who was still in awe at his speech. The sheer passion behind his words was so strong. Any further questions could only appear weak in the face of it, and yet there were questions abundant. "Forgive me General, but, what about the Shadow Hand? I always got the impression that Darth Lasidia was set on her successor, and…"

Morgak nodded slowly at that, returning to his calmer state. "And I do not like Kiarna at all. There is a simple reason for that." He sat down at last, once again picking the glass up and slowly twisting it in his fingers. "A common flaw in Force users is arrogance. The Jedi are arrogant in their belief that they are right, and the Sith are arrogant in their belief that they are all-powerful. As I said, Darth Lasidia is not like others, which is why I respect her judgement at a moment's notice."

"But not Kiarna's, because she's young, and yet is the…" Rasters needed a moment to rethink how many Sith Lords there now were. "Fourth most powerful Sith at this moment. And since the Twi'lek is locked up, she has no say in any of these matters."

"And Darth Rak'Sakar follows where Darth Lasidia leads, because he knows that his strength does not lie in strategy. It lies in brutality, raw force, and intimidation. We all have our duty to perform in the complexities that will see the galaxy truly united." Finally taking the last sip from the glass, Morgak looked at Rasters with an even stare. There was a glimmer of pride in his wide eyes. "Always remember that we are working towards the good of the people. They may just not realize it yet."

Rasters nodded again, taking his last drink as well. "As you say General. Good of the people, good of the Empire."


	5. A Twi'lek's Suffering

Back on Ryloth, she would often listen to the stories her brothers had about Coruscant. Part of their training had been to assist where they could in the lower levels, which on its own provided no shortage of interesting tales. Often they would venture out into the galaxy itself, sometimes back home, but always with a specific mission to accomplish.

The Sith were still lurking in the shadows at that point. Everyone now knew in hindsight that they were readying for another war, this time with a very specific goal in mind. Obtaining any information that would lead them to more and more weapons of the ancients.

"You've never been to Coruscant, have you?"

Maarani hadn't even noticed she was staring out the window as they approached the city-planet. Lantillies looked quiet in comparison. The sheer amount of traffic that whizzed by as they approached the temple was astounding. Such a contrast to the serene rainforests that existed on the surface above her village.

Part of her also expected blaster fire to start up at any moment. The rush wasn't unlike a space fight at all. "I didn't get to leave Ryloth until the massacre. The Jedi didn't actually bother to bring me to the funeral, so I tried to get here myself." A sigh came as she pulled herself away from the window to look at Koor again. There was no blame to be assigned anymore, not from her. "Somewhere along the way, I crashed on that one planet and lost my Force powers. And you know the story from there."

"I'd say they had their reasons, but since you'll be able to ask them for yourself…" Koor took a breath as the moment arrived. A lot of debate had passed between herself and the Council about Maarani. "I really have to implore that you try to remain calm and tactful. Do keep in mind that the Jedi were still trying to rebuild after the latest purge when the massacre occurred. There are so many regrets they still continue to face from that. Don't provoke them."

By now, Maarani knew better than to roll her eyes. A lot had changed in eight years, certainly. Her sister going from a hopeful padawan to a Sith Lord stuck out most. Beyond that, the invasion of several worlds along the Sith border, some of those battles she had flown in herself. Watching as the Jedi moved into action against them swiftly, having learned from the mistakes made not so long ago.

If only they could have been swift in helping her mourn for her family. "If they're not going to be apologetic, I'm not going to be forgiving." Yet again her attention settled on the lightsaber. The question would arise eventually as to how it came to be. A mess of non-functional parts that she managed to scrounge up on Ryloth, and her journey leading to the crash. "What happens if they don't just abandon me once they've learned all they can about my encounter with Kiarna? Do I build a new weapon during that potential training?"

"I honestly don't know. Considering the state this one is in however, I think they would recommend you work on a new one, when that time comes. War with the Sith in mind." Koor turned her own attention to the temple as they approached the landing zone. There were surprisingly few Jedi waiting there, including the guards. It seemed almost necessary that a vessel coming from the front lines would be more readily prepared for, in case of infiltration.

The significance was lost on the Twi'lek, who was preoccupied with looking at the temple itself. It certainly stood out amongst buildings nearby, in age and style more than anything. High and mighty. "I'm still not sold on this. You did have to convince them that I'm worth talking to in person for one, and I'm probably the only non-Jedi in the Republic who's had contact with the Sith Lords."

She tore her eyes away from the view to look at Koor again. "I get that they're probably busy trying to rebuild the Order while the Sith are breathing down their necks. But I'm directly related to one of the enemy leaders. Wasn't that the whole point of Elira bringing me on that mission?"

"That brings the issue full circle though. The massacre was even more devastating because so many family members of initiates and knights were there at the time. Since then they've been incredibly reluctant to involve relatives of Jedi in any capacity. Including you." The shuttle came in for landing before Koor could continue. A reprieve from trying to answer questions when for the most part, she had to guess or assume.

More Jedi had shown up by the time they exited the shuttle, led by Master Utan. His attention was on Maarani as she emerged. "You seem well for someone who…" He stopped as she began to make her exasperation known. "Something you need not be reminded of then, young one."

He grunted at the Twi'lek and turned around to return inside the temple, at his own pace. "I see the resemblance. Lekku patterning and eyes from your parents, Masadar and Rilana. Forehead matching Kadano's. Cheekbones and chin matching Tilasa. Anger, and emotion in general like Masaka." Another grumble came from the very short Jedi. "Your parents must have liked that name pattern."

"I don't." Maarani crossed her arms as she moved closer, staring down at the back of Utan's wrinkly head. "Is my 'anger' going to get me kicked out of this temple before I even actually get inside? Because there's really not a whole lot I can do against twelve Jedi masters, is there?" A guilty feeling quickly settled as Utan turned back to her. Something she hadn't expected to feel.

"This meeting is not made or broken by your turbulent state of mind. The entire Republic is facing a threat from the Sith. That must be our priority. Save our personal differences for after you have informed us about what Darth Lasidia's apprentice told you." Utan proceeded on without further word, save for a grunt at some onlookers they passed by.

Koor was quick to catch up and lightly grab Maarani's arm. "Calm and tactful is not what that was at all."

"I'm not the one who decided to rattle on about dead relatives." She noticed Utan's ear twitch back at her. A few months ago, she might have stuck her tongue out at him in response. Something appropriately immature to stick it to a Jedi Master. If only Koor actually knew the full extent how much she had changed in that time.

A far more settled follow-up finally came. "I am actually going to get answers about why I was left in the dark, then. No hurrying me out once I've said enough; a proper chance to get those grievances out in the open."

Utan nodded slowly, though didn't look back at her this time. They had a long walk ahead for that. "There is a reason why we have avoided contact until a month ago. You may not like the answer, but it should bring some closure to you."

* * *

The table shook a little as her lightsaber came to rest on it. It wasn't from the force with which she placed it down, or an accidental nudge against the table leg as she stepped away.

"I swear, I did not mean to cheat you at all."

"Oh yes you did. You saw a blind woman with a weird mask, trying to find her way into the bar, and saw an opportunity to steal some credits. Only you didn't realize she was the White Terror."

Kiarna stretched her hand out from the dark corner she had occupied, gesturing to her lightsaber. The blade flared into life just in front of the Rodian's fingers. They were shaking rather violently as he struggled to pull them out of her influence. Fear was very real for him.

"Here's the deal. You tell me what you know about a Twi'lek who goes by Maarani, and you're free to go. Every time I don't like the answer, you lose a finger." She lifted one on his left hand, dragging it a little closer to the humming blade. It remained perfectly still, despite how much the rest of him was shaking. "Am I understood?"

All he could do was nod hastily, hoping he would make it through the ordeal without any actual injury. "I think I know who you mean. Eight years ago, she came here from Ryloth, wanting to trade spacecraft. I never ask questions about why, where or how." He braced himself in case the answer hadn't met with her approval. For the moment at least, his finger remained steady.

"Not so hard, was it?" Kiarna rose from her seat, slowly pacing around the table at which he was sitting. "I'm going to tell you about myself, while you ponder this next question. Be sure to listen carefully, or I might take a finger for inattentiveness." She took hold of the table and leaned down, bringing her mask into full light of the lamp just above their heads. "Why did you make a trade with a sixteen year old girl?"

That left him confused, his hand starting to tremble again. "I… I don't know."

Kiarna leaned back up and resumed her pacing, bringing his finger just a little closer to the blade. "I said you will think about it while listening to my story." With a small gesture, she made the lamp swing around the table in a circle. "Miraluka have traditionally become Jedi. They're considered valueable for their strong affinity with the Force, and their ability to see into the future when collected together. That led to a massacre unlike anything the galaxy had seen before."

Her hand traced along the table edge as she continued to pace, watching the Rodian before her continue to struggle for release. "That was over thirty years ago now. Every Miraluka felt it in their minds, and it actually affected some of them on a physical level. In ways that were subsequently passed onto their offspring. Like me."

Abruptly, she turned and smacked the lamp away from her face, looking right at the Rodian to ensure he was focused on her. "Who was responsible for the destruction of Katarr? The Jedi or the Sith?"

"How would I know? I was only youngling then-" Pain shot up through his arm at that moment, tearing his frightened gaze away from her mask. The tip of his finger had already been plunged into the blade, and more was following. Feeling his flesh being vaporized was unlike anything he had imagined, or even wanted to.

"Excuses are not answers! The answer is that both sides were responsible! The Jedi for their consistent arrogance, and the Sith Lord at that time for not controlling his venture into the dark side." She looked down at the dark circle where a finger had been on the Rodian's hand. For the moment, she allowed him to pull away. "Now, if you want to avoid repeating that, you'll answer my other question."

He clutched at his hand, still in momentary disbelief about his loss. Something he definitely didn't want a repeat of at all. "Word got here about massacre at Jedi training facility. Lots of Twi'lek families came through here right after. She was Twi'lek, upset, I assumed she wanted to get there fast. Her ship good for cargo, not speed, it seemed fair trade."

Kiarna backed off a little more, returning to her pacing. "Hers was stolen, I assume. She struck me as the sort who doesn't care all too much about the spacecraft she flies." She flexed her fingers, taking control of his hand again. "Next question to consider while I continue my story. Of the different groups, merchants and smugglers on this world, she went to you for a ship trade. Why an independent Rodian, with a poor stomach for mutilation?"

The lamp began to spin again, circling around the finger now approaching the lightsaber. On cue, the shaking and whimpering picked up from her subject once more.

"Some time into my development, the cells that now form my brain were altered slightly. At this point, the Miraluka had seceded from the Republic in the wake of the massacre, so medical technology to detect such abnormalities wasn't readily available anymore. A few slipped through the cracks, as it were." A grin flashed beneath her mask as she could hear the Rodian muttering to himself more. Questions to himself about whether the finger loss or history lesson was worse. "Should I just take another finger now to answer those questions for you?"

He shook his head desperately.

"Good, I'll continue then." This time, she let her hand trail onto his shoulder and around his neck as she passed around him. She could feel his tension rising further still. "While my parents didn't know it, I was born with a brain that made me experience joy, happiness and laughter whenever I saw others suffering. Whether it be from pain, loss, or betrayal, I was ecstatic to see it happen."

By then, she had returned to his side once more, taking up her usual questioning position. "Am I a murderer, when my brain says to feel joy when inflicting pain? Or am I just an unfortunate case of biology gone wrong? Which means my only crime is not seeking medical treatment."

This time, there was a pause as the Rodian gave it genuine consideration. His hand had returned to a more stable state, and there was no more whimpering. Not long after, he turned his gaze back to her. "You are Sith, because Sith allow murder, Jedi do not. You treat your abnormal brain as advantage, not disability. No guilt means no regret. Perfect assassin mentality."

That answer surprised Kiarna, who released his hand from her mental grasp again. This time, the smile that formed was from her impressed mood. "There's hope for you yet. Most of my subjects insist on answering the question directly." She was about to switch off the lightsaber when something occurred to her, enough to give her pause. "You've thought about that question before. You've done something you should feel guilty about, but didn't. Something to do with Maarani…"

His brief hesitation was enough for her to act. The lightsaber was tossed aside, shutting off in the process. She needed the room to climb onto the table and place her hand right next to his head, ready to reach deep into his mind. "Did you sabotage the vessel she took? Inform someone of her whereabouts? She came to you for a reason, even if she didn't know it. Who did you sell her out to? Why is she so important?"

"I don't know!" The Rodian looked back at her mask again after calming himself. "Man in brown hood came, paid well for ship to crash on his planet. Maybe Jedi, maybe Sith. Maybe neither." He braced himself as her hand moved closer to his head. More answers were wanted. "No location. He used beacon, activate device when she enter orbit for air resupply. I never asked questions, he never came back."

Kiarna finally withdrew her hand, climbing back off the table. As far as she could tell, without tearing into his mind anyway, that was the end of his involvement with her. "Not many make it through a session missing just a finger. Consider yourself wise for co-operating so readily."

"This isn't over though, Shadow Hand."

She barely had time to turn before she heard a blaster shot rush by her right ear. It had come from outside the room itself. A set-up. Not a very good one at that. "On second thought…" Her hand flicked out to her lightsaber as she ducked down, another shot flying over her head. In a swift motion, she took hold of her weapon and swung it in the direction of the table. By then, the Rodian had fled the room. Apparently far more resilient than she had believed.

By then, she was close to the ground. A quick tilt of her head caused the lamp to explode, plunging the room into darkness, save for her lightsaber of course. It was a brief chance to consider her next move before the whole place was riddled with blaster fire.

"Speculation: The Sith agent believes that we need standard spectrum light to see her cowering on the floor."

The next shot fired was directly at her head. This time she was ready for it, swinging her lightsaber up to reflect it back. It was followed up by the sound of a minor explosion from the doorway, and a lot of clanking metal as the droid collapsed. Her heart began to race as she realized that the set-up was less sloppy than she had assumed.

* * *

The guards accompanying them remained behind at the lift up to the Council chamber. It only made Maarani slightly less uncomfortable, her eyes constantly glancing at Utan with the expectation of seeing him staring back. Ready to remark on the fact that she wasn't quite doing well enough in keeping her 'emotionally charged' mind in check.

That issue went away as they reached the Council floor itself. Her sarcastic mindset was fading away, along with her bitterness over the past. Either the Jedi masters were projecting a calming sensation, or something in the tower itself was. She didn't like being manipulated in such a way, but there was little choice for her in the matter now.

When the doors opened at last, she took a quick look around the room. All eleven of them were watching her as she moved into the room, emotionless in their gaze, save for one.

"Take your seat, Master Utan." The Grand Master turned her head towards Maarani as the Jedi Master walked past to his seat. "Step forward, Tegama'Arani."

Maarani hadn't heard her proper name used in over a decade. To have it spoken now by the woman across from her was an uncomfortable surprise, one that prompted her to obey. Even more intimidating was the veil worn by the Grand Master, concealing the upper half of her face.

That fear did not go unnoticed. "You have nothing to fear from us. This is not an interrogation."

Seeing that hadn't helped, she decided to lighten the mood with introductions. The first gesture was to herself. "Sereti Pala, Grand Master and seer." Her hand moved around the room, starting from her far right. "Merena'Likta, Kiisad, Jarred Idras, Kade Vulen, Carla Sarren, Okta Dalfira and Zeren Gadu. You've already met Koor, Torbut and Utan."

Maarani glanced back at Koor briefly, surprised to learn that about her at last. In thought, it wasn't all that surprising though. Her head slowly turned back towards Sereti, still facing the ground for the most part. "I'm just not comfortable around Miraluka lately." When she finally lifted her gaze upward, she saw mild surprise on the Grand Master's lips. "Kiarna said she couldn't see me through the Force, Miraluka seemed like the most likely explanation."

"You imply that she made you feel uncomfortable around Miraluka, yet use her actual name with such a casual tone." Sereti tightened her lips momentarily, turning her head to Kade on her right.

He nodded in response before taking his turn to speak. "We have concerns that she may have tampered with your memory in some way. Nothing that cannot be easily undone of course." Noting her growing discomfort, he sat up and leaned towards her just slightly. "Just recount what you can from after she discovered you in the clearing."

Again, Maarani felt the eyes fixated on her, a prickling sensation along her lekku starting to flare up. So much for it not becoming an interrogation. "She started tormenting me about my anger, at everything." Her gaze moved sideways to Utan. Brief as it was, she noticed him frown in response. "I struck back by telling her I was Rilana's daughter, and she got very upset."

A heavy silence fell in the room. She turned her head slowly to each of the Council members, who were glancing at each other. They knew why it had angered Kiarna so much, and they weren't about to tell her just yet. For the moment, she had to let it slide.

"After that, I told her about my brief experience with the Force, and how I lost it. She began to soften up and claimed Lasidia could restore it, and when I refused…" The pause was longer this time, as she began to really think about what had happened.

Kneeling down with the lightsaber aimed at her head, ready to make one last attempt at escape. Then, actually running away. Nothing about how she had actually escaped.

Those around her had caught on by then. Sereti returned to speaking. "As Master Vulen said, memory blocks as shallow as that can be undone with relative ease." Her attention moved past the Twi'lek to Koor, who had an expression of concern by that point. "Did you wish to add something, Master Koor?"

The Zabrak advanced towards the middle of the room at that."I found evidence that Maarani was being tracked by someone with a stealth field. It cannot be coincidental that the White Terror let her go while someone was following in secret."

"Can't it?" This time, it was Carla on Maarani's right who spoke with a very skeptical tone. "This may sound paranoid, but with the galaxy in such turbulence, spies for rogue factions are going to be abundant. What leads you to assume that this was the work of a Sith agent?"

"Whoever it was made me hear voices. Doesn't take a powerful Sith to do that, right?" Maarani began to shrink back as the attention returned to her again. It was all beyond her, and she was beginning to grow anxious about the other reason for her presence there. "They're after me for whatever reason, maybe because of my sister. Now I want that explanation about why I've been kept in the dark for eight years."

The moment of tension was far shorter than she expected. Perhaps they had just been waiting for her to ask, so they could get it out in the open.

"Your sister wasn't corrupted by the dark side after being taken by Lasidia. She summoned them to the training grounds, so she could join them."

By all rights, she should have been experiencing a torrent of emotions, starting and ending with utter betrayal. She could only experience an odd sense of emptiness. It was actually almost fitting.

There was another pause before Sereti continued. "One of the instructors who survived, Yuthura Ban, discovered her with a transmitter shortly before the attack, the device conveniently destroyed by the Sith. We believe that the struggle during Masaka's capture was staged to hide her intentions."

That made Maarani quite suspicious. "She was eleven at the time, and with the Jedi for pretty much all of her life. I'm not buying that it was all on her."

A shudder came as Sereti's attention settled on her. All the talk about her sister had brought back the terrible memory. And now she was being scrutinized over it.

"Yuthura always maintained that none of the former Sith were involved, especially your mother. Whatever turned her may very well have been beyond the ability of anyone there to prevent." A sigh parted her lips as the other issue came to mind. This was something they didn't have eight years to prepare for. "There is the matter of your connection to the Force that we must now discuss. I assume you brought your lightsaber with you."

Maarani pulled it out of her pocket, holding it by the end of the handle. "It barely qualifies as one. I didn't have access to many parts. Those that felt right to use anyway." She could see Utan leaning forward, which prompted her to approach and carefully place the lightsaber in his grasp.

He turned it around in his hands a few times, humming as he examined it closely. "Did you witness the construction of one for yourself at some point?" When the Twi'lek shook her head, he nodded in acknowledgement and returned to his examination. The handle twisted off with ease, exposing the empty crystal chamber. "The incident that severed your connection occurred before you obtained a crystal, I take it?"

Maarani nodded slowly, her eyes fixated on the empty space. "Wouldn't have gotten to Ilum without any Jedi finding out anyway." She took the lightsaber as it was handed back, moving towards the middle of the room again. "I was planning to come forward about it. Didn't think it would take eight years."

"Hesitating to tell your family may very well have saved your life." Sereti watched Maarani's reaction intently. There was definitely regret, and curiously a degree of complacency. Odd to see given her supposed suicidal tendencies. "By now, Master Koor has likely explained the situation we now face. Do not take this as an offence, but your emotional nature means training you alongside others would almost certainly have a negative impact on them. As you are right now."

Ironically, she was still feeling very little emotion at that moment. No sarcastic remarks or mean-spirited comments were forming as her way of defending against unwanted criticism. Something was definitely not right. "She said there are other groups that, while not strictly Jedi, would be willing to help."

"It is a matter that requires a case-by-case discussion, but it would seem to be the best option you have. The Sith are just as eager to recruit force-sensitives into their ranks as we are. Ideally, they will help you settle your thoughts before you return here for formal training." Taking a breath at last, Sereti looked to each of the Council members in turn, all giving a slight nod. "We will inform you when a decision has been reached, though it will take days at the very least to organize things. You are quite welcome to look around Coruscant in the meantime, or stay here in the Temple itself."

"I'll tell whoever I'm going to be followed around by when I decide, then."

There was a lingering silence as the Council watched her return to the lift. Koor was noticeably hesitant, looking to see if there was anything further to be said before following right behind her.

Once the lift was back on the descent, the Grand Master finally rose from her seat, approaching the middle of the room herself. "Shut it off."

Every one of them clutched at their heads in that following moment. The discomfort varied between each, with Master Likta often being the worst off in the month since testing began. This time Sereti had been the one to take it hardest.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded hastily as the dull pain began to subside, taking hold of Carla's shoulder as she approached. "I will be very happy to arrive on the day we perfect that inhibitor." When it passed, she straightened back up and returned her attention to the Council. "It's worse than we thought. I could see she was aware of the suppression from her reactions to everything said. And we can barely tolerate the strength of the inhibitor field already."

"Then we will have to stall for more time. We are close, it is just a matter of focusing the effects on one individual." Utan brought out the holo-projector he had been concealing in the meantime, lifting it up when active for all to see. It displayed an image of Maarani's lightsaber in great detail. "She lied about not obtaining a crystal. There were tiny shards of one that had shattered inside. Clearly, she has found a new source we are not aware of, or unable to guard."

Kade approached the gathering once Likta had recovered. "She did tell us that the White Terror is Miraluka, which confirms your theory Sereti."

"It's not confirmation, not yet at least. The only way to be certain that Kiarna is one of the corrupted generation would be to scan her brain." Another sigh passed through Sereti's lips. There were so many things that had to be organized and put into action, none of which even included the situation surrounding Maarani. "It is the closest we've come to identifying her however. We will need Watchmen redirected to every Miraluka colony to begin tracking down anyone she may be related to. If she hasn't already killed them by now."

Iksor nodded at that, readying a data pad to begin planning out assignments. "Given the likelihood that she was one of the few who went undetected, I would like to start with the smaller colonies."

"Agreed. Though, you might also want to have someone go to Katarr." Just saying the name brought back chilling memories, which she needed a few moments to overcome. "There may be a few historians in the area who could help."

"I can handle that. Been far too long since I've gone into the field." Kade gave a slight smile at her approval before moving to Iksor's side, assisting with her own planning.

The last remaining matter was arguably the hardest to face yet. "That leaves the rescue of our captured pilot. Darth Lasidia may very well have gone to ground for the time being, but that should not keep us from searching." Sereti turned her attention back to Utan at that. "Carla and I are the most capable in dealing with Sith Lords, but we will need more support from the Republic if we locate their main forces. Can you negotiate in our absence?"

Utan pondered on it for several moments, already weighing up the arguments he would potentially face. "I will certainly try, though with the attack on Lantillies, they may be hesitant to commit to a full scale engagement."

Sereti nodded sagely, resting a hand on his shoulder. "If we are fortunate, it will not come to that. But we cannot rely on hope alone." She turned back to the others again, now faced with the greatest issue. "For the time being, I believe it best that we continue to allow Maarani to believe she has lost her connection to the force. Finding whoever unsuccessfully tried to sever it in the first place can wait. So long as she continues to believe it was an accident, she will be distracted by trying to reestablish it."


	6. Blind Standoff

"Irritated statement: The Sith agent is choosing to hide and wait for us to leave, prolonging the assignment beyond the optimal timeframe."

"Caution: The Sith agent is not one to hide from droids, even those of our own design. The Sith agent will make a reappearance soon enough. We must be ready."

A single lightsaber swipe brought both droids tumbling to the ground, followed up by quick stabs to every control module. Even then Kiarna wasn't satisfied, quickly placing explosive charges in the remains before moving on.

It hadn't taken long to determine just how many assassin droids there were. Over two dozen had scattered throughout the settlement, and at least three were anti-Jedi class. She had located less than half of them, only knowing about the rest from their brief communication. Whoever wanted her dead was going to very long lengths to see it happen.

For the moment at least, she had time to plan her next move. The ship was some distance away, and she couldn't maintain Masaka's enhanced speed for long. More importantly, it was an ability the droids were unlikely to know about, and thus wouldn't include in calculations. Quite possibly the only advantage she had over them at that given moment, especially with Carudan out of contact.

"Report: We are approaching the last known location of units Seven and Eight with caution. Anticipating traps or an ambush. Communications will remain open from now on."

Kiarna cursed under her breath as she began moving on through the tunnel, switching her lightsaber back off to minimize the visible light. The thick walls around her had done well to block out their infrared vision so far.

" _Taunt: Sith agent! Spare us all the bore of trying to find you by coming to the marketplace! We promise a death worthy someone of your status._ "

She tugged at the edge of her mask as the robotic voice blasted into her ears. Having the capability to hack into her mask was both terrifying, and rather rude. "I don't make deals with metalheads. You're all devoid of fun."

" _Contemplation: It is ironic that you refer to us as 'metalheads', intended as a slur, when you Sith seem to have quite the affinity for metal masks. Perhaps this hypocrisy is a sign of underlying contempt for droids that perform your line of work in a superior fashion._ "

For a moment, she wanted to tell the commanding droid to shut up, if only to save her ears from the vocals that annoyed her greatly. It was exactly how Maarani had reacted to her own projections.

"It just means that I have no reason to care about anything a droid says, especially one trying to kill me." Kiarna ducked her head down as she reached the end of the tunnel, concealed behind a pile of large drums. There was no turning back to find another way beneath the upper level of the settlement, and she wasn't exactly someone who could blend into a crowd of dirty mercenaries and black market traders.

"Alert: Sith agent located! Engage anti-Jedi tactics and begin attack!"

A volley of blaster shots tore through the drums next to her, bringing the pile crashing down to drive her into the open. There were eight droids up on the surrounding buildings, armed with blaster rifles, and almost twice that closing in with vibrostaves from all directions.

The presumed leader approached, heavily clad in cortosis alloy plates that covered all vital systems and joints. Small radiators were attached to each plate to make it harder still to cut through. Whoever sent them was far too prepared to take Sith down.

"Statement: I did not expect you to actually comply with my earlier request. Seeing as you have however, I am willing to postpone your execution for a few minutes."

Kiarna kept her lightsaber ready anyway, taking careful note of where every droid was located. "Why, so you can monologue on why I'm suddenly on the hit list, who sent you and how much your programming says you'll enjoy cutting me down?"

The lead droid twirled the vibrostaff around and planted it into the sandy ground with a great amount of finesse. "Sarcasm: That is exactly what I was planning to do. You truly are a perceptive one, Sith agent." His head turned to the other nearby droids, who closed in on Kiarna, staves pointing towards her neck. "Statement: You have been messing in affairs the Sith have no business in. Termination is the only sufficient punishment for being a busybody."

"What affairs?" She tensed as one of the blades was nudged in her direction. "I've been killing Jedi for twelve years. They're not cowardly enough to send HK droids out to kill Sith though."

One of the droids clashed his staff against the lightsaber, demonstrating that they were also resistant. She nearly lashed out at him for such a bold move, which would have brought about her demise that much sooner.

"Clarification: You have made contact with the Twi'lek woman, Tegama'Arani. Our contractors cannot allow any Sith who have done so to live. Especially those who seem set on pursuing her."

Kiarna couldn't help sighing at that. "Is she important, then? All I saw was a Republic pilot with a death wish that I couldn't be bothered to kill."

There was another pause from the droid. Brief, but a strong sign she had momentarily confused his programming.

"Sarcasm: Your wit in trying to deceive us into revealing information knows no bounds, surely we are no match for someone of your intellect, Sith agent." He lifted his staff out from the ground, bringing the blade up towards her mask with another fluid movement. "Reassuring statement: Consider this a mercy killing. Any organic who comes in contact with Tegama'Arani will come to desire a release from their torment soon enough. So we are told anyway."

The drive for self-preservation told her to ignore what the droid was saying. Even if the Twi'lek had somehow afflicted her with something, she had direct access to the most powerful Sith in the galaxy. Death was far from her only 'cure'.

"Why not just kill her and save the trouble?" In response, one of the droids behind her began to thrust the staff forward.

Masaka's training came into full effect as she leapt up into the air out of reach, while simultaneously taking hold of her lightsaber with the Force and swinging it at each of the droid's heads. Barely a second had passed between her leap and the loud clatter of fourteen HK-50s smashing their vibrostaves against each other, now deprived of their vision.

Blaster shots were already starting to fly in her direction as she landed behind the pile of metal, which she hastily deflected away from herself.

"Admiration: You certainly have great skill with the Force. Under other circumstances, it might just be entertaining to work with you. But, a contract is a contract."

Kiarna barely had time to turn before the commanding droid fired his own blaster rifle. The shot tore right into her left shoulder, burning down to the bone through the muscle. It took every ounce of strength she had left just to keep hold of her lightsaber. Lifting it back up to defend herself would be impossible now however.

The droid was well aware of that, signalling the others to cease their attack. As the blaster was levelled right at her mask, he spoke again. "Statement: You healed Tegama'Arani out of pity. As I stated, what she does to others is far worse than execution."

A spray of gunfire tore through the alleyway, shredding several of the droids up above before coming into focus on the leader. The sheer impact caused him to stagger backwards, but his armor plating held out.

There was no need for Kiarna to think twice about running towards the approaching vessel, clutching at her shoulder along the way. Carudan was demonstrating impressive skill in piloting her ship as he brought it in very close to the buildings either side of her. With the last of her strength, she leapt up for the open hatch, landing on her bad shoulder in the process.

"Go!" She kicked at the hydraulic arm on her right to push herself further into the ship, narrowly avoiding her foot getting caught as the hatch closed back up.

"There's gunships closing in! I can't come help until we've cleared the system!"

"I'll manage! Just focus on flying! And don't scorch the paint!" Kiarna's neck was now twisted up against the deck as she slowly pushed herself off the hatch ramp. The whole ship was swerving around drastically, presumably as they narrowly avoided incoming blaster fire.

Her lightsaber finally slipped away from her fingers and began rolling along the metal floor. The length of the arm itself was starting to grow numb. She needed treatment very quickly. "Any time now would be great! I am not going to lose my arm over a shoulder injury!"

"You fly the ship around the Hammerhead that just showed up then!"

The ship lurched again as she tried to pull herself back up. Her right hand slipped off the corner of the ledge she had gripped onto, slicing into her palm.

"Hold on!"

She jammed her hand in under her limp arm as the ship rolled abruptly. It didn't do a whole lot to stop the blood that was seeping out over her side, but it did keep her from sustaining any further wounds.

The feeling of the ship entering hyperspace was relieving beyond measure. More so when she finally heard Carudan rush down from the forward section. Strangely enough, she wasn't concerned about how helpless she looked at that moment. "About time, huh?" She clutched her hand in when she was lifted up and carried on towards the rear compartment.

Carudan laid her out on what obviously served as a torture table normally. A quick tool switch would allow it to heal her instead. "I take it you've not been physically injured like this before."

"I don't get into fights with droids that know how to distract Sith often." Kiarna began grasping at the collar of her coat, trying to work the binding free. It only aggravated the slash in her hand. To her frustration, Carudan took hold of her wrist and pushed it back down on the table.

"Give me a few moments to stop your shoulder from getting infected and I will sort out your hand." Mutterings about infuriating bipedals followed as he carefully poured a small amount of kolto into the open wound. Leaving that to begin working, he then moved around to the other side and began attending to her hand. "This medical technology is far more limited than what I'm used to. I mean overall, not the things here you've twisted into torture tools."

Kiarna sighed again at that, trying not to think about the cold lump inside her shoulder. "I suppose they had better methods of healing ten thousand years ago, or whenever you're supposed to be from." A surge of pain nearly caused her to jerk her hand away when he applied more of the fluid to the slash. She didn't like being on the receiving end at all.

Carudan eventually wrapped her hand up to keep the kolto in place. His new concern was getting her coat off, seeing as she had been unable to do it herself. "I suppose you have a personal tailor back on your ship who will get all the bloodstains out, and repair the gaping hole." After some frustrated fumbling, he finally worked the collar bindings loose, allowing her to do the rest.

After some struggle, she finally opened it up and eased it off her shoulders. It exposed the full extent of the blaster wound, around which a large bruise had formed. She would need far more than a jar of kolto. "We need to head back. I can't trust any neutral hospital with those droids and whoever else after me."

"I don't think you have that long before it gets worse. We'll have to chance it if you want to keep that arm." Already he was calculating what the best option would be. They had to keep her from being recognized certainly, and while there were certainly places that wouldn't ask questions, they were also places with poor medical standards.

"I get the impression that you won't take the mask off for any reason, even to conceal your identity. Rather ironic I suppose." Even now he could tell that it was more than just a covering. There was dark energy infused into the metal itself.

Kiarna was quick to reaffirm that sentiment, grasping around the front of it. "There's a black overlay to put over it, along with Sith robes. Neutral hospitals won't question it if they think I'm just another Jedi hunter. Just make sure it's not a Republic hospital I end up in."

A slow nod followed from Carudan as he left her there, headed to her sparse meditation room. Already there were concerns about his choice of investigator to tag along with, which he quickly pushed aside on finding the aforementioned items. She still had to divulge what information she had gathered so far after all.

* * *

"Medical discharge, due to mental instability."

Dana tilted her head forward slightly. Maarani had said herself that it was the outcome she expected, but there was a definite tone of disappointment to be heard. "I don't think they give honourable discharges for crashing fighters. Just something to keep in mind."

The Twi'lek looked at the ground for a while, the papers in question clutched tightly in her hand. "After seven and a half years of flying in the Corps, it's weird just knowing that it's all gone for me now. Back to being a civilian." When she finally allowed herself to move past it for the time being, she shoved the papers into an inner pocket of her jacket and looked back to Dana. "I suppose it's going to really hit me soon enough."

"This is what you feel is best though, right? Earlier you said that you were just an average pilot, and it got lonely on the front lines." She stood back up as Maarani began walking back down the hall to keep pace with her. "I can't say I know what that's like, Jedi brat and all, but you've basically got the freedom to go wherever you want now, either way. And now there's not even going to be an issue if you find that one woman."

Maarani forced a smile at that. Finding love was possibly the very last thing on her mind at that moment. "You're the one who's supposed to tell me where to go next. I'm not sure the Council would approve a side trip to tour the galaxy."

The sunlight outside was dazzling as they left the moderately lit building behind. Dana was very quick to adapt, Maarani less so.

"There's fifty thousand places that will sell shades, I'm sure we can find you a pair that suits."

By then, Maarani was shielding her eyes with her hand as they approached the airspeeder provided to them. "Why bother? It'd just make me look like a punk, especially with the jacket and all." She hopped into the vehicle and marked out their next destination down in the lower levels. "So you're sure they said to get a grey market ship to use?"

Dana pulled her cloak up around herself as she got into the seat behind Maarani. "If there's Sith or other groups after you, we need to avoid leaving a paper trail. Jedi won't deal in black market goods, and it's far too costly to get erased from official sources. Besides, older ships have more charm to them." As they launched off, she slowly eased herself into the front seat, finding a view that wasn't blue lekku rather more appealing. "You know how to repair ships, right?"

Maarani slowly turned her head, lips tightened together as she began shaking it. "I assumed you did. Or there'd be an instruction manual we can download and read on the way." She could tell Dana wasn't all too impressed. "I flew fighters, I didn't put them back together when they caught fire."

"Well, reading manuals it is then." As they began the descent into The Works, she undid the clasp on her lightsaber as a precaution. "How much experience do you have with the sort that do grey market deals?"

"I took an old cargo ship that one of my distant cousins used to fly and swapped it for a small blockade runner. I recognized some Rodian as the one I had to trade with to avoid getting screwed over." The smell hit her hard as they passed through the atmospheric layer. Down there, the air seemed to contain just about every toxic, smelly and repulsive particle and scent possible. Yet again, her Jedi companion was unfazed. "Do they sell gas masks down here?"

Dana shrugged at that, concentrating on expanding the pocket of fresh air she had formed to include Maarani as well. "Never needed one. Just stay close and I'll do my best to keep it breathable."

They soon approached a landing deck, bustling with activity from all variety of people and droids. A noticeable space began to form as they noticed Dana's attire, those not already moving hastily away staring at the pair as they disembarked.

Maarani grinned briefly before lunging at the crowd. "Boo!"

Quite a few more began stumbling away, apparently spooked by that. Dana was far less amused by it than the Twi'lek. "Maarani, that's not really a nice thing to do to these people." She began urging her towards the direction of the shipyards, maintaining an awareness of those they passed by. There was no telling when someone stupid enough to jump them would make such an attempt.

As they drew closer, Maarani began to notice a steadily growing amount of droids, most of which were badly damaged or outright non-functional, while the amount of people they passed declined. It was an eerie feeling to be surrounded by so many machines with faces. In comparison, none of them even acknowledged their existence.

"What I wouldn't give for…" Her attention had been caught as they passed by a narrow alleyway. A Khramboan was huddled up on a pile of boxes, filthy rags wrapped around his head and form. On his right was a childcare droid, the only sign of activity coming from its flickering eyes. "Dana, hold up a second."

Dana turned to what Maarani had noticed, rather confused. "A poor Khramboan and a nanny droid. Am I not seeing something?"

Maarani was already approaching the Khramboan, keeping a reasonable distance while she reached into her other pocket. "Hey, buddy. You still with us?"

There was a grumble from the pile of rags. Eventually the Khrambodan lifted his head out of it, blinking several times at the Twi'lek to clear his blurred vision. "Missis want what? Missis bother Koogora why?"

She glanced back at Dana with a grin, nodding her head towards the droid. "What's the deal with the droid, Koogora?"

Koogora grumbled again as he looked at the nanny droid, tapping the clamp around its head with a disparaging sigh. "Missis droid scare others away. Koogora sleep best he can."

Maarani pulled out a small bag of credits, which she proceeded to pour out into her hand. "Three hundred for the droid. Smart guy knows how to get around without being noticed I bet. This'll get you home or wherever."

For a moment, Koogora looked between the credits and the droid, apparently taking a while to make up his mind. After tapping the droid's clamp again, he finally nodded. "Deal." A swift punch to the droid head caused it to blare into life, at which point he scurried off with the credits in hand.

"Mistress! Mistress! Mistress!" The droid flailed all four of its arms out momentarily as it screamed, before returning to a catatonic state.

It was a bit much for Dana, who finally moved up to Maarani's side. "Three hundred credits for that? I can understand trying to be charitable, but there's every chance that poor soul is going to get knifed or worse for those credits."

Maarani was preoccupied with the clamp at that point. It connected to every one of the droid's data ports, presumably a last measure to keep it under control. "This is going to be our mechanic. We clean it up and fix whatever needs work, then download the ship manual into the computer. All it'll have to do is look at a problem and recite what needs to be done to fix it."

After some thought, she took hold of the upper arms and hauled the droid up. It immediately steadied itself, adopting a very standard pose. The head continued to face forward, though the disturbance had caused what remained of the synthflesh to dangle down in peeled layers.

"Even if that does work, we could get an actual maintenance droid for that much."

"One that has a nice figure, and will communicate with words? I can't stand beeps and whistles."

Dana sighed, looking at the droid again. It looked far from nice with the drooping flesh, grimy exterior and caged head. "It's your money, I suppose. Just promise me you'll be more tactful in selecting a ship, seeing as we're buying that on Jedi funds, and we need to breathe air when between planets somehow."

"Yeah yeah, I'll know what we need when I see it." Maarani took a few steps back, watching the droid slowly step forward to follow her. "Guess the legs have crusted from lack of use. They still work at least."

She walked back out of the alleyway and returned to the path towards the shipyards, her new droid following behind closely.

Dana shook her head and followed on shortly after.

* * *

Sand was kicked up everywhere as she struggled against the bindings. It earned another shock stab to her side. Shortly after they gave up and began physically dragging her through the scrub by the rope she was tied up by.

Through the sharp grass that scratched her skin while being dragged through it, she could see the torches that marked the tribe boundary. Further in among the tents were many of the tribe members, also carrying fiery torches as they stared at her writhing form.

As they approached the village fire, they began shocking her repeatedly. In the shoulder, chest, stomach and legs, even a few to the base of her lekku. Dragging her had apparently become too difficult, so they were now settling for herding her like a wild animal.

She could hear hissing, feel spittle striking the raw burns left behind by the shock sticks, taste blood in her mouth as she was kicked in the jaw.

"Silence!"

The voice reverberated through her montrals rather painfully, though it was dull compared to what she had just been put through. Feeling the rope tighten around her neck as it was tugged up by the elder dulled those other pains in turn. The rough texture was on the verge of cutting in as she was forced to look up at him.

"Mikan Sol, we have witnessed the crimes you have committed. So heinous they are, we dare not repeat them to others!"

Mikan could see the lightsaber being drawn from his back, shining bright green against the fiery light around them.

"There is only one punishment that comes remotely close to being sufficient. Those who cannot bear to watch must leave now."

She coughed up another glob of blood, which trickled down from her lips as she tried to face the ground. As hands began to grasp her left lekku, her eyes started flickering in amber. It wasn't from the lights surrounding them.

"From this day, Mikan Sol, you are severed from this tribe!"

The elder brought the lightsaber down beside her head in a single swing.

Lasidia's eyes opened. This time, she was overlooking the Sith fleet, what little there was of it anyway. Her departure into the galaxy in pursuit of knowledge had been delayed, not by the Jedi, or the needs of the Sith under her command however.

She was soon standing in front of the reason, staring at her through the small round window. "You triggered that memory, despite being suppressed. How?"

Masaka was visibly trying to smile as she approached the door, though there was no real emotion behind it. "Wouldn't you like to know how?" As Lasidia moved to leave, she pressed her hand up against the small window. "The question you should be asking is why. Why was I trying to see what motivated you to reform the Sith so soon after Darth Traya's defeat?"

The Togruta was silent for several seconds as she stared back at the young Twi'lek. She didn't like having an invasion of her thoughts happen a second time. "You've seen through my eyes what I've already told you, then. Is there anything further to discuss, or were you just growing bored of sitting here in this chamber?"

"It didn't answer the question to my satisfaction." Masaka lowered her hand down again, though remained standing in position. "Cutting lekku off is a very savage punishment. You say you did it to protect everyone from my overwhelming power. But you weren't even actually Sith when they did it to you. Why were they so enraged?"

Lasidia slowly reached for the control panel, unlocking the door with a gesture. As it swung open, she pulled her hood back, bathing the scorched wound in light. "I was exploring powers of the dark side, with a young girl who agreed with me in that such knowledge could be put to use." Her head tilted down a little as her lips tightened. A hint of regret seeped through. "I noticed our skin was starting to shift towards red, something that would've given it away. The tribe found us while I was attempting to conceal the colour shift. I was deep in concentration, and when they broke it, her skin evaporated. She didn't survive more than a few minutes after that."

"And they assumed that you intended to do that, a test to be later used on them all." Masaka slowly folded her arms as she leaned against the doorway. "You were close to this girl, not unlike your closeness with Kiarna. You blame your tribe for her death."

"Of course I blame those bastards for her death!" It took Lasidia a moment to realize she had just sliced her lip open with her teeth. The damage was quick to heal, but it left trails of blood dripping down her chin. Just as it had twenty years previously. "The elders were all Jedi, judgemental hypocrites who tried to cover up anything that they did not agree with. This is why I spent years gathering every surviving Sith who hadn't defected to the light into my forces. Do you now have the answer you wanted, Twi'lek?"

Masaka gave a very half-hearted clap, her slight smile still present. "And yet, you were prepared to spare all of those young Jedi at the training grounds. I remember you had to give the order to kill everyone specifically. Your hate is limited to your people, and the traitors. I was wrong about you, Lasidia." Her gaze darted across her face, taking the opportunity to look at the markings. There were few that marked Sith prowess. "In a way, you have a noble goal for the Sith. You are more concerned with the success of the whole, than yourself."

Her smile grew just a little more as she caught on fully. "You're setting up the Sith to be ruled by Kiarna. The platonic daughter, the darkest of the dark, the woman who was Sith from birth. You don't believe you can lead without the thirst for revenge, but she will go on. Her only reason for existing being the desire to inflict pain."

There was nothing Lasidia could say to dispute the assessment. Eventually she pulled her hood back up and stepped to the side of the doorway. "Do not misuse this gesture of trust, Twi'lek. Your freedom is at my whim, and this time Rak'Sakar will be there to take you down, not my apprentice."

The gesture was a surprise to Masaka, who slowly stepped out of the room in case she was hurled back in again. When that didn't transpire, she turned to Lasidia fully. There was one other question on her mind. "Why are you terrified of my sister? She is a useless waste of flesh. Someone who didn't inherit any capability with the Force from either parent is not what I would consider a threat to the galaxy."

Lasidia might have smiled, if the situation were not so grave in her mind. "Then you do not know her at all. What she represents, what she can do." She began slowly walking back up the long corridor that led to the cell, followed by Masaka after she took her own hood up. "Her lack of sensitivity to the Force is a deception. She is very much alive with it, but someone went to great lengths to make her, and all of us believe otherwise. I don't know where her true power lies, but I intend to find it, and destroy it."


	7. Aboard the Distant Star

At a glance, it was certainly inconspicuous, being moderately weathered, and showing signs that it had been repaired on numerous occasions. What really mattered was whether those repairs had been to standard, given it was no cheap purchase.

"Eighty thousand is the lowest denominator my programming will accept."

"Eighty thousand credits for a vessel this old would include documents of a full overhaul which you seem reluctant to show us." Maarani continued her steady glare at the droid, who glared back with equal stubbornness. The art of negotiation was something they clearly didn't know how to program into machines.

Dana soon intervened with a tap on the ship's hatch. "Can we take a look inside at least?"

The droid turned its head in her direction, contemplating it for a while. Eventually a nod came. "Very well. Just try not to touch anything until payment has been made." The droid approached the hatch and unlocked the small console next to it. While the ramp lowered down, it turned its head to Maarani again. "I will check our records again. There are not many to sort through." It soon returned to the tiny office, where the other droid had been ordered to wait.

Maarani rolled her eyes as she followed Dana up into the vessel. Immediately they were greeted by a very dark interior. "Don't touch anything when you can't see where you're going. Great advice." She pulled a small torch out from one of her pockets and did a quick scan of the room with it. For an access hatch, there was an excessive amount of junk to be found already.

Further in wasn't a whole lot better. All manner of random components and spare parts were scattered through the rectangular room in front of them. At a glance, none seemed to be actual ship parts. Maarani was soon crouched down amongst one of the piles, idly searching through the pieces. "Droids, speeders, heavy weapons, medical bays. The previous owner must've been a hoarder. Maybe this is why the droid is charging so much."

"Probably didn't find the idea of cleaning it out to be worthwhile. A lot of this stuff looks far too niche to sell down here." Dana spent just a few seconds picking through another pile before stepping away. "You think he's lumping five thousand on for all this? It wouldn't take too long to clean out."

"Honestly, I almost want to keep it around to sort later. Something to pass the time between systems. Either way." She stood up from the pile and returned to exploring through the ship. Beyond the left wall was what appeared to be the bunk rooms and cargo hold. The latter was surprisingly bare given the mess strewn about everywhere else.

She wandered around towards the cockpit, all four seats filled with even more junk. The blast shutters had been closed down, blocking out what minimal light there was outside from entering. A mental note was made to test that it actually opened up before she made her way over to the other side of the ship.

By then, Dana had looked into each of the rooms on that side. "There's a food prep area, very basic medlab and a sonic shower. Nothing great, but we weren't expecting much anyway, were we Teegs?"

There was a pause.

"Don't like Teegs? It just feels odd calling you Maarani, not really a Twi'lek name is it?" She looked up at her, quickly growing concerned as she saw shock on her face. "Oh, I just assumed-"

"It's…" Maarani finally swallowed down the grief that had begun to well up upon hearing the name. "Haven't been called that in a very long while. But, no reason why no-one else is allowed to. Teegs is fine with me." The smile on her face was blatantly fake. Another way to defuse the situation was beyond her.

Dana didn't pursue it further. It was all too obvious what Maarani had been referring to, and it now felt uncomfortable to continue using the nickname. After a further silence, she did her best to relax again. "Eighty thousand for a ship loaded with junk. Should we ask the droid to power it up and do a maintenance check, or find another seller?"

Maarani took one last look around. The ship was more spacious inside than she had expected, and if they came back later, it was likely that the droid would increase the price for lack of choice. "Walkthrough to be sure it works. I think this is the one."

* * *

"A Twi'lek accompanied by a Jedi, you say?"

"Missus gives Koogora many credits for droid, says go home!"

The hooded figure hummed in contemplation for a few moments, before placing a hand on Koogora's shoulder. "Thank you, friend Koogora. You have been looked upon favourably by the One. My companions will ensure safe travel to your home."

Koogora looked at the other figures in confusion. There wasn't any way for him to tell between their dark grey cloaks, and none of the others had spoken. And yet, he felt safe in their presence. "Koogora really go home?"

"Yes my friend. If the time comes, we may have need of your services, if you are willing and able of course. For now, rest well in the knowledge that the Force is with you."

* * *

There was an alarming number of people in the hospital as they entered. It was quickly becoming hard to keep herself from audibly laughing at the suffering around her. So many were missing legs, arms or other appendages. A few had suffered burns and other serious ailments, while barely a handful were completely unconscious. So much pain inflicted on others, and she hadn't been around to see it happen. It didn't stop her from grinning beneath the mask.

A nearby medical droid muttered something about Sith before approaching Kiarna and Carudan. "We are over capacity right now, and will not hesitate to throw you out if there is any kind of disturbance. Payment will be required upon initial diagnosis."

Kiarna removed a box from inside her cloak, positioning it on her hand for Carudan to open up. Now was the time to test the full extent of her voice distortion. "Five hundred. I do not want to spend a second here longer than I must. Do not touch the mask."

The droid took one look at the box of credits before motioning to one of the other attendants. "Very well. This way."

They were led to a bed much further down the room, handing off the box in the process. Sith and Jedi were both present in that area, scowling at each other from their beds while droids and organic doctors treated them. All of them slowly looked to the pair as they approached.

Carudan was quick to summarize what both of them were thinking. "I don't like the lack of separation here." At the bedside, he lifted Kiarna up off her feet and placed her down with barely a grunt of effort. While she worked to lift the cloak off her shoulder, he flagged over the nearest available doctor. "It's my wife's shoulder. Blasted droids shot her while she was trying to drive them away from a group of children. Jedi wouldn't want anyone to know that though."

It earned disparaging looks from the nearby Jedi, exactly what they needed. His expression softened as he moved out of the way. "Just take good care of her. She's not been injured like this at all before." The stares followed him as he headed towards a clear area where he could stand without issue. Any attention from Sith or Jedi was now on him, not Kiarna.

She wasn't happy with the cover story at all, but it was the easiest to stick to. To her relief, the droid in attendance didn't waste time in checking her shoulder. "Very close range shot. Lucky it did not take your face off."

"I ducked out of the way, tried to at least." Kiarna faked a cough, keeping with just how raspy her distorted voice sounded. The gasp of pain as her wound was prodded with some sort of device wasn't fake. "My husband filled it with kolto before, however much that did to fix it." As work began on restoring her shoulder, she made fleeting turns of her head, enough to make it look like she was glancing at other patients. "They all from Dalchon?"

The droid was silent for a while as it began to repair the damage on the bone itself. Once the delicate part was over, it began speaking again. "Far more than one planet. A lot of civilians got caught in the crossfire between your people and the Jedi when the HK droids showed up. They've been searching for the White Terror apparently."

"White Terror?" She coughed again, humming briefly to feign contemplation. "So the Dark Lord's apprentice has gotten in over her head. How amusing."

"I have heard as much from your fellow Sith. The Jedi are also far from sorry to hear it." The droid turned its head to the other nearby patients while it waited for the first muscle layer to restore. "My programming is satisfied that you organics can keep the fighting off Arkanis. We have more than enough to deal with already."

While he returned to the shoulder, Kiarna made some more observations. The Jedi across the walkway from her was clutching his leg as they worked on sterilizing the stump that remained. On her left was another Jedi, the right side of her face covered in a regenerative mask. To the right was a Sith, also disconcerted with her surroundings.

She didn't recognize the face at a glance, and any amount of distraction would be enough to keep herself in check. "This sector always like this? Much quieter around Mandalore, if you'll believe it."

There was no response.

Kiarna tightened her lip as she looked closely. The woman was definitely conscious and breathing. "I can put in a good word, get us moved to somewhere that doesn't have droids going crazy on everyone."

Still no response.

"Fine, guess I'm transferring to the Mandalorian front alone." She turned her head to the Jedi on her left again. "Maybe we'll run into each other there, chat about the fun time we had in an overcrowded neutral hospital."

"Shot while saving children…"

That made Kiarna hesitate. After the total silence, actually getting a response surprised her. By that point she barely even noticed the droid continuing to mend her shoulder. "There are Sith who have family to consider. Didn't you Jedi give it a go years back?" For added effect, she hissed and attempted her best tone of regret. "Nevermind. I wasn't involved with them when that happened, if it makes a difference."

The woman finally turned to her, making an effort to keep the regenerative mask from touching the rough pillow beneath her head. "Should it? The only reason we're not locking lightsabers right now is that we both know others need assistance a lot more than we do. No-one cares about stories of heroism here, especially not those about Sith."

"Oh, I see. So because my predecessors butchered a bunch of adolescents, it's now impossible to believe I didn't want to see assassin droids gun down a group of children. I'm just making it up to try and get sympathy from droids who are deliberately programmed to not experience emotion."

"Actually, many of us here have been programmed with improved bedside manners, which does include offering artificial sympathy. What we are not programmed with is an organic tendency to judge others by superficial factors."

Kiarna's grin grew again as the Jedi turned back, now ignoring her altogether. It was surprisingly easy to play the 'innocent' card, and criticize herself from the perspective of a different person. Hollow words that carried just enough truth for others to believe. Another wince came as a layer of synthflesh was applied.

"This will fall off once the muscle and skin underneath has set and healed fully. Don't be alarmed." Once that was finished, the medical droid quickly moved out of the way and signalled to Carudan across the room. "The operation is finished, if you'd like to lift her off the bed now."

Another sigh followed as Kiarna sat up and got off the bed of her own accord. There was definite soreness in the shoulder, but she could actually feel her arm again. "Don't know what I would've done if we didn't get here sooner. Never thought I'd say this to a droid, but…"

Her attention was drawn across to the room, where a group of hooded figures had arrived. There was a definite darkness about them, but they weren't Sith, somehow.

One of the larger attendant droids approached the group, speaking with a rather menacing voice. "This is no time for visitors. Present any injured or leave now."

A lightsaber emerged from the cloak of the leader.

Kiarna had barely a second to react, hurling the droid forward with as much force as she could muster. It was cut in two before even reaching the hooded figures.

"Everyone get out!"

The two beds nearest the group were sliced into pieces, as were their former occupants. At the same time, the apparent leader began gliding across the floor in her direction.

Like many of the others near her, she wasted no time in turning and running right away from them, given none of them were in any condition to fight. Immediately she noticed that Carudan had vanished, probably off to bring her ship over yet again.

* * *

"Maneuvering thrusters, check."

Maarani glanced over her shoulder as Dana returned from the cargo hold. "How's our droid settling in?"

"CC-13, according to a mark I found on the neck. She's still hasn't said a word, as far as I can tell anyway." She sat down in the co-pilot seat, watching Maarani's gestures to the controls she needed to observe. "Come up with a name yet? I know a few knights who do a great job with hull marking, could ask one of them to give this a go."

"I'll let you know." The Twi'lek went through final checks before powering the main engines up. With the shutters now up, she could see the main doors ahead of them grinding open. Not an ideal clearance, but it wasn't beyond her capability to get through. "Don't suppose you've got someone good at reprogramming droids as well?"

Dana half nodded, taking another glance back into the ship. "You're really set on reprogramming her without even taking the clamp off. Don't you want to know why she was hysterical before it kicked in?"

"It's a droid, not a person. There's thousands just like it across the galaxy. Besides I don't want it going mad, hurting people and getting chopped up by lightsabers." Maarani slowly sighed as she prepared for take-off. "If it needed an actual clamp, and not just some inhibitor bolts tucked away inside, it's probably dangerous as is."

"If you say so…" Dana took hold as the ship lifted off the deck, gradually hovering towards the opening ahead. Rather than getting larger, the way out seemed to get smaller in comparison to the ship itself. "How'd a droid get it in here in the first place anyway?"

"Maybe it used the Force?"

Dana was about to frown at that when Maarani throttled the ship up to full power. She could see walls rush past through the green smog as they hurtled back towards the main shaft. "Teegs! This is not safe!"

By some small miracle they reached the open air of the surface without incident, where the autopilot systems took over, immediately beginning to decelerate the ship.

Now free to move, Maarani left her seat and wandered over to the navigation panel further back in the cockpit. "That was nothing compared to the warp space corridor, believe me. I just wanted to be sure no-one would follow us out." With the Jedi temple set as their destination, she returned to her seat and watched the cityscape pass by around them.

It seemed like only seconds had passed before they began the descent to the docking area at the temple. A few Jedi onlookers who were confused by the grungy ship coming in to land quickly moved out of the way as they noticed the pilot and passenger.

"They're gonna leave it as is, right?"

Dana gave a half nod, her attention on Utan as he approached the landing zone. "That's the idea, really. Too clean or too battered and it'll draw pirates out either way. You'll have to switch the weapons out on the next planet though." This time she was first up from her seat, already making her way over to the hatch as they touched down on the open deck.

By the time they both descended the ramp, Utan was waiting there, looking up to both. "An unconventional choice. Not a particularly mobile vessel, something I would not have expected from a fighter pilot."

Maarani shrugged at that as she removed her jacket, no longer needing protection from the harsh lower levels. "Fast ships aren't designed around being lived on." A brief glance around told her that Utan had come alone this time, something that surprised her. "I figured Koor would come to check up on our arrival. Still discussing what to do?"

Utan gave a small nod, motioning for the pair to follow. "You provided us with a lot of information, more than you might suspect. A talent for observation is already a useful asset to someone in your position, set to roam the galaxy. Perhaps the way of the Sentinel is your path."

"Isn't it a bit early to start guessing what I'll end up doing? Just hours ago you said I was emotionally charged." This time there was less frustration in her voice. In its place was doubt. "I'm happy to send back information about anything noteworthy or potentially of importance. But right now, I'm not sure I like the idea of being defined by that."

Dana quickly stepped in at that. "It was just a suggestion, Teegs. Master Iksor handles the Sentinels and other groups. Master Utan's speciality is lightsaber construction and techniques."

"Teegs? I see the two of you have not had difficulties working together, then." Utan gruffed at that, in what was almost a sound of approval. "Grand Master Pala was apt in her selection as always." As they passed by more vessels, he hummed again in thought. "I have been contemplating the situation with your lightsaber, Maarani. While the parts used to construct it are old, I see no reason why you cannot resume building on it if you choose. You will always have the choice of constructing a new one from scratch when the time comes."

This time, Maarani finally took the advice given and stopped herself from getting worked up over his continued expectation for the future. He seemed to be fairly confident that she would be eventually be allowed into the Order, something that by all rights she should be very happy about. "I suppose there's something to be said for sentiment after all. Throwing it away never felt right."

"Then all is not lost. You may not hear the Force, but it is still calling to you, in the few ways it can." To his surprise, Sereti was approaching them, also alone. Her pace was not hasty, but still implied she had something of importance to discuss. "If you two will excuse me momentarily." He began to approach the Grand Master, who gestured for him to remain there.

Once close enough, her attention was on Maarani of all people instead. "I would like a word, Tegama." She nodded to Dana, who waited behind with Utan. The Twi'lek soon moved to her side as she began slowly walking away in a different direction. "There is something else that we did not tell you earlier, and in retrospect I feel you have a right to know."

Maarani nodded sagely. She didn't like where this was going at all.

It took a shuddering breath for Sereti to work up the nerve to say it out loud. "The White Terror has been Darth Lasidia's apprentice for nearly twelve years now. Yuthura identified her as the one who executed your mother, and the leader of the subsequent massacre."

She had been preparing herself for the inevitable fountain of anger that would flow from the Twi'lek. Coming face to face with the murderer of her family was a truly horrific thing to experience, something she knew all too well.

There was only a dull realization to be felt. It confounded her completely.

"Is that why she was upset? Because I'm the surviving daughter of a woman she apparently hated?" Maarani was confused at the notion. Her brief encounter had been with a psychopath, not an executioner. And even more confusing was why Sereti had even brought it up to begin with. "Why tell me this now? Did you think earlier that I'd want to go seek revenge on Kiarna for it?"

Sereti's lip tightened yet again as she gave a slight nod. "Partially. The main reason is a personal matter however." By then they were near one of the great pillars, a good distance from the other Jedi. She could talk freely for a few minutes at most. "If she is Miraluka, then she is almost certainly one of the corrupted generation. Children who bear mental scars from the destruction of Katarr, passed on from their parents. I say this because your recognition of her species might help in case you run into other corrupted who were never detected."

"Great, Utan thinks I'd make a great spy, and now you want me to be a sniffer dog for psychopathic-" This time she physically stopped herself from continuing by biting down on her tongue, rather painfully. She didn't release until the sarcasm had drained away altogether. "I just worked out things from what she told me. I'm no magical clue-finder who can seek out people that need counselling or whatever."

"Nevertheless…" Sereti's voice trailed off at that. Eventually she took hold of Maarani's shoulders, her face tilted down to give the impression she was looking at her directly. "One of the duties of any Jedi is to provide help where it is needed. All I ask is that should you encounter someone, or Kiarna herself, that you try to persuade them to seek help." Her hands slid from the Twi'lek's shoulders at last. "Not all of the corrupted sought alignment with the Sith, in fact a few actually asked for help when they realized what was wrong. Just try, please."

Maarani shrugged at that, glancing over at her ship to avoid staring at the veil any longer. "If I run into any of them, and by some miraculous chance I do figure it out, I'll try." By then she noticed a few civilian workers entering the ship, probably sent to do their own maintenance check. Concern for her piles of junk suddenly skyrocketed. "Hey! Hold up a second!"

It was a release that Sereti had been waiting for, giving her the chance to return to Utan and Dana. "The first real test is now in motion. You remember what to look for, right?"

"Find people that are emotionally charged, and observe how Maarani interacts with them. A radical shift in personality or attitude means she's developed a lot faster than we anticipated." Dana's eyes followed the Twi'lek as she hurried back into the ship. "If people show up here a few weeks after meeting her, then she's in line with expectations."

"And you, Master Lauran? Has her presence caused any issues yet?"

Dana shook her head, though did fold her arms as she thought it over. "I can feel it just outside my thoughts, trying to break through. Master Likta's training appears to be effective so far though." She faltered for a moment as she faced the reality of their plan again. "I don't like lying to her. After all she's been through…"

"Telling her the full truth now would be disastrous. None of us like the idea of deceiving her, but we really don't have any other choice. She could very easily destroy the Order if she falls to the dark side." Sereti was about to return into the temple when she recalled her earlier statement. "Has she told you where she wants to stay for the next few days?"

There was another head shake.

"I suppose she'll have to work that out for herself then. Perhaps she needs to feel independance for a while longer." She departed at last, continuing to observe Maarani inside the ship as she tried to defend her junk-filled ship from being cleaned out. Comical innocence, and yet she couldn't help wondering if it was all feigned.


	8. A Miraluka's Torment

Every few minutes, Kiarna could hear the faint echo of another death. It always caused her to stumble briefly as she giggled upon picturing the death itself. There had been at least five now, each one slowing her escape from whatever was in pursuit. For once, she had good reason to hate her condition.

In her moment of anger directed towards her inability to properly deal with the situation, she didn't even notice the swift approach of the Jedi before. Until they slammed right into each other. Both drew lightsabers immediately upon recovering.

"You!"

This time, Kiarna had to be quick in her response. "Before you try run me through, word of warning. You really don't want to hit the mask at any point, because I highly doubt you'll survive what it will do to you." The display of concern seemed to work, as the Jedi looked slightly less eager to slice her in half. Progress was progress. "I can sense their approach easy, if you can do the fighting. Believe it or not I'm not going to hold a grudge when my life is on the line."

The Jedi tightened her grip on the weapon, apparently ready to say that she didn't agree. Another scream of terror quickly changed her mind. "I don't have good depth perception with half my face like this. You'll have to help me get close enough."

Kiarna finally noticed her right leg was missing. Not ideal at all. "I can't support you on my left shoulder."

"Fine by me. I don't want that purple…" The Jedi looked at the lightsaber in confusion. "Why is it purple, ish? Got sick of red?

"Long story." Kiarna moved around to her left and wrapped her right arm around her back. The Jedi was taller, and far more heavily built. Without training she probably would have toppled both of them over upon releasing her grip on the railing. It took a few tries for a slow walking pattern to form, but they were at the very least making some progress.

"So, we sharing names, or are we only co-operating long enough to get out of here?"

The Jedi looked down at her briefly before they crossed an intersecting corridor. There was the constant fear of falling, but it never came to that. "Jayden. You?"

"Azera." About to step into another intersection, she hastily pulled Jayden back and urged them back towards the nearest cupboard. "Two incoming. I don't think they've noticed.

Both switched their blades off before reaching the door, giving Jayden a chance to open it. "Surprised they have force locks on a neutral world." The room itself was rather sparse, plenty of space for both to slip inside and close up before the hooded figures arrived.

There was notable hesitation as Kiarna allowed her perception to move beyond the confined space. She could still feel their cold presence, and just observing in their direction seemed to amplify it. After a minute, she watched them walk through the intersection without even pausing to check. Her relief was short, but welcomed. "They don't have strong perception. Or they've got a new priority."

Jayden was tense as she reached for the door handle. She only had Azera's word to go on, and it was entirely possible that the door would open to one of the figures. As it swung open, they were only greeted by a gust of cool air. "You're not so bad at this, Sith. Any idea what those things are?"

"Either Dark Jedi, or some group I've never heard of before. They're definitely not Darth Lasidia's Sith." Progress was faster now that they had become accustomed to walking together. The sprawling nature of the hospital was already hindering any prospect of reaching the upper levels where escape would be waiting though. If Carudan had actually made it out.

A pain in her chest caused Jayden to stumble briefly, gripping tightly onto the railing. It was soon followed by a coughing spasm, traces of blood present in the spittle. She knew what it meant all too well. "They didn't get around to fixing my ribs." Her left arm began to slide from Azera's shoulder as the coughing subsided. "I've had it. Just get out, and make these butchers pay."

Kiarna moved to do just that when an impulse stopped her. She wanted to leave Jayden behind and hunt down whatever they were being pursued by quite badly. And yet she couldn't bring herself to do it, somehow.

 _Statement: You healed Tegama'Arani out of pity. As I stated, what she does to others is far worse than execution._

"For Sith apparently…" Her teeth clenched as she shifted her hold around Jayden to rest her back against the wall. "You've still got a war to fight, Jedi. I don't like others doing the killing for me." With her hand raised, she began hovering it around Jayden's ribs, trying to sense exactly where the fracture had occurred. Once located, she pressed her fingers in to make physical contact around the seventh and eighth ribs. "No offence, but I am really glad you weren't hit further up."

Jayden cracked the slightest of smiles at that, trying her best to not laugh or cough. "Guess your husband wouldn't approve. Where'd he go anyway?"

"Back for the ship I'd say. He's very good at getting us out of bad situations." With very careful precision, she began easing the twisted ribs back into position, using all of her concentration to keep Jayden from bleeding out internally. It was a painfully slow process, and certainly no comparison to real medicine. It would give them some time to escape at least.

"Why come here to get your shoulder fixed up, when you've got healing tricks anyway?"

"I don't know how it is for you Jedi, but Sith can't actually heal themselves and make it stick." Once enough had been done to stave off the injury, she released her hand and moved to get Jayden up again. "That's going to need real treatment soon anyway. If we don't get cut down first."

"Optimist."

"Realist."

Kiarna clenched her teeth again as the weight was shifted back onto her shoulder. "How'd you end up all the way out here anyway? Figured they'd want a heavy hitter closer to the action." They began moving forward again, taking a bit to return to the rhythm that had worked earlier.

"If I asked the same, you'd probably make up a fake story as well." The muscles in Jayden's arm were straining as she quickly shifted her grip up along the railing with each step. Not ideal if the figures decided to return in their search. "Imagine if they saw us now, superiors and whatnot. Hobbling away from death while wisecracking about the war beyond.

"Jedi or Republic? I don't think the Sith would mind too much, Imperials are a bunch of hard-asses though."

Jayden shrugged before pausing at the corner. She peered out just enough to get a look in both directions before moving on again. "Both, I guess, though the Republic don't get much of a say at all about Jedi matters."

"Like making friends with a Sith." Kiarna left a thoughtful pause as she tilted her head down. It was occurring to her that this was a potential way to get someone working for her inside the Jedi without them even realizing. "It's hard sometimes, hearing about people you used to be friends with, but had to forget because they have an opposing ideology."

"Only to run into them years later, ready to kill each other. 'Spose that's why-"

Both froze at the same moment, having heard another lightsaber activating behind them. Kiarna's brief distraction on how to manipulate Jayden into her service had just cost their lives. Long enough for whatever had pursued them beforehand to suppress her link to the Force. She was now completely blind.

"Jayden… I'm sorry for getting snappy earlier."

"We've been walking together for ten minutes, and gone about fifteen metres. Don't get sentimental on me."

A shudder went down Kiarna's spine as she heard the all too familiar sound of the swinging blade. She expected to fall to the floor at any moment, probably in two pieces.

Someone behind them fell to the floor instead, accompanied by the clatter of a lightsaber.

"You are safe now, friends."

Kiarna was quite careful in helping Jayden to awkwardly turn around, having already seen their supposed rescuer. "Excuse me for being hesitant when you're wearing clothing like the people who just tried to kill us."

The hooded figure lifted his hand up, drawing the fallen lightsaber from the floor into the cuff of his robes. "They are Fallen from our Following. We do not know their intentions, only that they intend to destroy the One. You have been touched by her presence, Azera Vass of Dakkan, and thus we have a duty to protect you from them."

That rubbed Kiarna the wrong way entirely. The fact that a complete stranger not only knew her full name, but the colony she had originated from was unnerving. Better that he hadn't exposed her deception at least. "What do you mean?"

"You know who I am referring to." The figure turned his attention to Jayden in turn. "I have a request to be made of you, Jayden Mires of Mandalore. Tell the Council that the Jedi must avoid the Fallen at all costs. We will do our best to keep them from taking more lives, but outsiders provoking them will cause more bloodshed."

Jayden was both disturbed and confused by the way he referred to her as well. What he said to Azera was far more confusing in comparison, so she didn't even try to think about it. "I'm going to need more than that. Rogue Jedi going around and butchering people isn't something we can ignore."

The figure lowered his hand to tuck the lightsaber out of view before continuing. "They are neither Jedi nor Sith, and thus not the responsibility of either group. Until the war stops, there is nothing further for us to discuss."

He backed away until out of sight before either of them could ask much more. Eventually they just looked at each other again.

The awkward realizations began to set in. "You weren't happy about my crack about Mandalore, I take it? Didn't think they even produced Jedi."

"I'm only half Mandalorian, Miraluka." Jayden reached her free hand to scratch around the back of her head. For a moment, a truce to stop the war so they could find out more about whomever they had just encountered seemed a very prudent goal. However unlikely it was to happen. "What happens now? Do we pretend this never happened?"

Normally, she would have continued her deceit just long enough to finish Jayden off without further issue. Another casualty of the attack. By now it was all too obvious that she was incapable of behaving like her usual self. "We go back and tell others what happened. Unaligned force users fighting each other, HK droids running rampant…"

She shook her head at last, looking around the corridor again. "I can get you to a Republic ship if you contact them ahead of arrival. After that we go our separate ways, no guarantees if we run into each other again."

"Fine by me. Next time I won't be standing on one leg."

"And I won't have a crippled shoulder that I can't risk swinging around."

Jayden tightened her lip at that, the unburned part anyway. It was almost sad to face the fact that they were still going to be enemies, after they had gotten past initial distrust. And she still hadn't seen what Azera looked like at all, given her full mask. Strange choice for a Miraluka who usually settled for blindfolds. "I expect a good fight. Can't blame me for that Mandalorian attitude."

Kiarna's smile beneath the mask wasn't malicious, to her own surprise. "I'll do my best. Let's go."

* * *

"Taking visitors?"

Maarani looked up from the table CC-13 was laid out on, immediately smiling as she laid eyes on Koor. "Wouldn't exactly be polite to turn everyone away after the lengths they've gone to for me." Her eyes darted back down to the open panel on the droid's back. While old, a lot of the circuitry was still in good condition surprisingly. "Any luck on that maintenance control chip?"

"Not yet." Koor approached the table with curiosity. Dana had mentioned the droid in passing, and Maarani's strangely dismissive attitude towards it. "Are you certain that you just wanted a shell to read guide books out to you?"

"What else is it gonna do? I'm not planning on kids, and it looks like I'll have Dana around if I need someone to talk to." She closed the panel up and tapped the droid's head. While it got back up, she stepped out of the way until she could sit up on the table instead. "I'm not gonna deny there's some droids that have something like a personality. But, it's still artificial in the end. Can't be friends with a dreary looking nanny droid."

"Not while she's locked inside her own body."

Maarani rolled her eyes. It was starting to reach a bothersome amount of repetition. "If it goes mad, then time will end up being wasted on wiping it anyway, if that even works. Someone really didn't want it to be unrestrained."

Koor pondered what had been said for a bit. It wasn't entirely inconsistent, as Maarani had become frustrated by droids on a few occasions in the previous month. She seemed very insistent on her stance with the one she had purchased though. "We are still discussing things, there won't be an issue with time wasted, believe me."

She looked at the droid again, this time with a bit more focus. It was definitely a lot older than Maarani herself, judging by how much the synthskin had decayed. The clamp was much older though. "I am starting to see a pattern though. Lightsaber cobbled together from parts, an old droid that you intend to repurpose, and a ship full of spare parts that may or may not have any use. Perhaps you don't even need a droid to help with maintaining the ship?"

"Yeah, I'll use the Force to become a better mechanic. And track down Miraluka with brain defects. And pull off maneuvers in a ship that's not designed for them at all. Oh, and let's not forget the eventual Sith killing when I become a Jedi Knight in ten years."

"Five years actually, if that." Koor shrugged as the expected look of confusion came. "We needed more knights out in the field, not padawans chasing after masters."

Maarani didn't question it further. Her existence was because of a willingness to forgo previously laid out rules of the Jedi after all. Instead, she opted to inquire about another question that had been resting on her mind for some time. "I keep hearing that they can't devote time from people here to help me alone. What makes sending Dana out with me to all these other places any different?"

Koor couldn't help the look of discomfort that followed. "Truth be told, her expertise is those with strong emotional states. I know you're sick of hearing that, but Dana is very subtle in her ways. That, and she's been wanting to get off Coruscant for a while now." It was technically the truth, just twisted around slightly. Reminding herself of that fact didn't make her feel any better about deceiving her Twi'lek friend.

"Helping a Jedi hitchhike around the galaxy. I think I can work with that actually." Maarani finally slid herself off the table and began wandering around the ship. It was certainly growing on her, despite the messy state. Beneath the scrap and parts was something that had clearly held up well over the years.

Eventually she turned back to Koor, unable to help noticing CC-13 standing in the corner beyond. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but at that angle, the droid almost looked sad. Staring out from the clamp, mouth blocked out in just the right way to form a frown.

It finally got under her skin. "Fine, I'll get the clamp taken off, assuming there's someone around who actually knows how to fix droids, unlike myself." Even from a quick glance, she could tell Koor was trying her best to conceal the pride she was now feeling at being right along with everyone else.

"I'll ask around. In the meantime, have you worked out where you want to stay now?"

"I'm not sure I'm gonna feel comfortable sleeping in an empty wing of the temple. And this still needs some work before it's good to live in." Maarani motioned to CC-13 at that point, who stepped out of the corner and moved to follow her. "There will be some place on Coruscant that I can stay at for a few days no trouble. Right?"

* * *

"The entirety of the Sith forces at this moment in time."

Only one word was present in Masaka's mind.

Underwhelming.

Two hundred thousand soldiers scattered across fourteen destroyers. Roughly three hundred Sith of varying levels of capability. Next to no droid support.

For the past eight years, she had assumed what she saw around her was only a tiny fraction of their forces. It was more like two thirds of it all combined. "This is why you've retreated from a majority of engagements, then? We literally cannot risk losing too many because there is nothing to fall back on."

Lasidia nodded with her usual lack of emotion. She probably would have been frustrated at their status as well if she hadn't spent decades cobbling that alone together. Masaka was looking at it from the perspective of ancient Sith who wielded power beyond imagination, not a lone woman who had a lust for knowledge, and a fierce determination to drive her on.

"Numbers have never been the true advantage of the Sith. Surely you would know this." Rak'Sakar approached the pair as they looked over the deck before them. His hood had been raised higher, an unusual occurrence even in Lasidia's presence. This was the first face to face encounter between himself and Masaka however. "You have kept Lasidia here despite her need to depart in pursuit of knowledge. Why?"

Masaka glared at the reptilian eyes looking her over. There was strong menace behind them, blazing with a blood lust. Such a wild contrast to the cold nature of their Togruta overlord. "I was locked in that room for over a month. A month that could have been spent bolstering our forces, rather than pacing around while I wasn't dispensing information."

"So you claim…" He trailed off into something that sounded like a muttered hiss as his eyes continued to dart around her. "I see the presence of the other three around you. Very curious that you have been able to continue keeping them subdued."

"They are shadows of what they once were, Rak'Sakar. As the Sith are today." When he finally stopped examining her, she turned to look at the gathered forces below again. "The Jedi will find out about all this sooner or later. And they will strike when we go for the superweapon, so they can use it for their own purposes."

Rak'Sakar made another guttural hiss in her direction as he approached the railing as well. "Let them come. The hour of blood is approaching, as is our reclamation of Korriban."

A frown formed on Masaka's face at that. "You are a fool, then. There is nothing left on Korriban. I went there from the tomb, saw the wasteland, and returned to Lasidia after that. Retaking a dead world for dead people will only give us more dead."

"I do not know why she has decided to release you, little worm-brain. You are only alive because you carry too much knowledge to lose just yet."

"Try and kill me. I can warp your wretched body into oblivion before the first strike even begins."

"Enough!" Lasidia turned to both of them in turn with a deadly glare. "This is what destroyed our predecessors, and exactly why I hesitated to release you Masaka." She could tell that the outburst had already gained the attention of those below. Undoubtedly waiting to see if the argument would come to blows. That couldn't be allowed to happen.

The arrival of Morgak helped break down the tension somewhat, which Lasidia was quick to take advantage of. "Stand straight Masaka. General Morgak is the finest Imperial officer I have known. You will show him respect."

"You flatter me, Dark Lord." His brief smile quickly faded as he noted the Twi'lek's expression of disgust. Not unlike how he imagined Kiarna looked at every one of their encounters. "I have just been informed of a series of attacks close to Ryloth space, by HK-50 droids and a cult of unknown Force users. Both have attacked Jedi and Sith alike." There was a pause as a smug smile formed. "The first report was from Dalchon, where witnesses also claim to have seen a woman in white fighting the droids…"

That immediately grabbed Lasidia's full attention, making no effort to conceal her sudden moment of concern. "Where is she?"

"Fled the planet on her ship as far as we know. She has not tried to make contact yet, not through conventional means anyway.

The concern grew a little more, forcing Lasidia to look away from the others. She hadn't felt anything happen to Kiarna, or heard anything for that matter. Not since she had departed, which should not have affected their ability to communicate mentally. Unless something was interfering.

Her head slowly turned to Masaka as the amber in her eyes began to flare. A few sparks flickered between her fingertips. "What else were you doing in my mind, Twi'lek? Cutting me off from my apprentice so you could take her place, perhaps?"

Rak'Sakar snarled as he drew his lightsaber, ready to cut down the young woman on command. He could see Morgak grinning at the unfolding development.

Trapped between them, Masaka quickly grew defensive as she stared back at Lasidia. "When she ran into my sister, you stopped communicating with her mentally, didn't you? Since then you haven't had a reason to until now." Her theory seemed to convince Lasidia at least, the fire in her eyes dying down as she backed off a bit. The others were less eager to let their guard down.

"Do you now see why I was so fearful of her?" She turned to Rak'Sakar, who finally released his weapon upon her approval. "I cannot delay any further. Continue with the plan as we agreed, and if contact is established with Kiarna, I want her recalled." As he nodded and moved away, she looked back to Masaka. "Whatever you may think, he will be able to kill you before you know it. Do not antagonize him again, seeing as you will be staying here."

At last, she returned to Morgak, taking hold of his shoulder as her tone returned to complete calm. "I am sure you will do your best to keep them from killing each other, friend."

"It may not be any safer out there than it will be here. Too many uncertainties either way." He smiled before following Rak'Sakar to the command deck.

Lasidia was left alone with Masaka once more. At that she returned to the railing, looking over the deck below as the maintenance crews continued their consistent efforts. "In ten years, this will be nothing compared to the forces Kiarna will command. If you intend to live to that day, or even rule under her, remember your place."

"My place as attack dog for Darth… whatever she decides to call herself then. Darth Kiarna doesn't really invoke a sense of dread like White Terror, does it." Masaka rolled her eyes before starting to wander off in a different direction. Less time listening to the reptilian slimeball or self-important old man was a thing to be grateful for.

"Kiarna was born Sith, something even I cannot claim. And I doubt you could either, Twi'lek. Ruling the Empire is her birthright." Her eyes narrowed a little as Masaka continued on without even a flinch. So far, she had seemingly retained a relatively large amount of emotional sensation despite the removal of her lekku, on top of still being able to talk and walk about freely. And yet she apparently had no reaction to being called a fallen Jedi, something others had seen as a grave insult.

The thought was pushed aside as she returned her concerns to that of Maarani. The threat she represented anyway. She had spent some time learning from the collection of Sith holocrons, but had never felt the need to seek out something specific from them before, aside from where to find the weapons of the Rakata anyway.

It was time to revisit them, despite the risk it carried.


	9. The Droids of Ryloth

It was a tense moment. The clamp had been physically welded onto the droid's head in places, which on their own were easy to cut through, only added to the concern Maarani was experiencing. Had she known that her purchase of the droid would be met by beration over its supposed rights, it probably would have stayed down in the alleyway.

She nearly jumped as the last weld was cut through. The mechanical locks had already been opened, allowing it to lift away without issue. While it no longer had that sad expression, it was still uncomfortable for her to look at the blank face. Every moment made her tension grow. "If it jumps up and tries to strangle me, I blame you all."

"Sys-" The droid tilted its head up momentarily before clanking against the table again. Its feminine voice was crackling badly. "Systems res… restoring… Systems restoring. Restoring, mistress." The eyes flickered briefly before it gradually turned its head to Maarani, staring at her directly. "Mistress? You are… blue?"

Seeing as it wasn't trying to strangle her, the Twi'lek slowly approached the table and knelt down beside it, looking directly at the droid. "You don't remember being stuck in the under layers of Coruscant for who knows how long, I take it?"

There was a pause. The droid slowly turned its head around, scanning the other occupants of the room, before turning to the Twi'lek again. "Where are Macen and Jules? Why are you blue, mistress?" The right arm began to fidget as motor control returned.

Maarani immediately stepped away upon noticing. "CC-13, you've been in lockdown for several years at least. Aren't you supposed to do a self-diagnostic or something?" She looked to Carmen, the droid expert who had helped with the repairs, who gave a brief shrug in response. Seeing no attempts to reach for her throat prompted her to step forward again. "CC, run diagnostic microdata command…" The words quickly became jumbled in her thoughts. "Something something protocol."

"Running diagnostics. One moment."

A sigh of relief came from both Maarani and Carmen, the latter of whom checked through her datapad again. "Basic overrides are still in place then. She should shut down if you tell her to at a moment's notice. If you're still worried."

"I'd still have to do a memory purge manually, if that's even possible with this one." Her arm was abruptly grabbed, which did finally make her jump in fright with a rather embarrassing yelp.

"Mistress! Don't let them take me!"

"Let go of my arm! I am not your mistress!"

To her surprise, the droid obeyed immediately, allowing her to back away further. It had gone quiet again, though was still fixated on her face.

When it spoke at last, it was a much quieter, and rather afraid tone of voice. "Who are you? Where is the mistress? The children?"

Maarani didn't move closer yet again, though she was now feeling a hint of regret over shouting at the droid. While obvious in retrospect, she had forgotten that the droid was programmed to interact with people on a daily basis. "I have no idea, CC-13." She glanced at Carmen, who was already approaching the droid again, this time with caution. "What's the last year you can recall?"

Another pause followed, this time with a few drawn out sounds from the droid. Many of its circuits were still in poor condition, hindering response time. The response was brief. "Unable to establish. No point of reference found, chronometer damaged."

"I can fix that. Just a second." Carmen reached into the open stomach cavity, and after some searching pulled out the broken chronometer. Her expression quickly changed as she noticed the damage. "She's been hit by an EMP, and that didn't stop her completely." Leaving the chronometer to the side, she returned her attention to the cavity and began slowly removing more damaged components, with CC-13's wails ringing in her ears.

"Stop stop stop! You're hurting me!"

That made the Jedi lift her head up immediately in shock. "Hurting… You can't possibly be feeling... pain?"

"Is that justification for pulling my insides out? Would you like it if I started ripping out your appendix, spleen and intestines? How about the liver?"

"You forgot the kidneys." Maarani drew her blaster pistol to keep it ready if the droid decided to act on her sudden threat. "They don't usually hit nanny droids with EMP grenades. And it's a bit of a long-term disguise for an assassin class. So why are you experiencing 'pain', if this really is the case."

Carmen looked between both before carefully withdrawing her hands from the cavity. "I was just going to replace those parts with new ones. These look at least sixty years out of date."

"Calling me old now? You barely look fifteen, and already you think you're a master droid surgeon. I feel so safe in your hands."

"Great, I bought a diva droid with four arms and bigger breasts."

That drew the droid's attention back to Maarani, and an end to the ranting as abrupt as its start. Instead, a much softer tone was used to speak to her. "You bought me? Why? You don't appear to have had children, or be expecting some." After tilting its head, the panicked tone returned again. "Oh no, my programming does not allow for that kind of activity!"

It took longer for Maarani to catch onto what was being implied. The realization left her stunned. "That's really disgusting. Actually, how did a nanny droid even end up learning about that?" By then she noticed Carmen was getting very uncomfortable with the situation. "I bought you because I wanted a droid to help with fixing the ship. Poor sod who had you previously was using you to scare people away."

"Oh yes, because I'm definitely not good at scaring people away!" She pulled at one of the flaps of synthflesh, eventually ripping it from her face and dangling it over her eyes. "Disgusting stuff. I don't know how you kiddies live with it every moment of your lives."

It was becoming a bit much for the Twi'lek. "Carmen, how long will it take to do the wipe?"

"Hang on, you were serious about that?"

Maarani glared at CC-13 directly. "A droid that screams at people, assumes Twi'lek are only interested in sex, and uses too many contractions is not what I'd consider to be in working condition."

"It didn't work the last three times though. I just came back, until they put that thing on me. Can you imagine what it's like sitting on a pile of junk with no concept of the passing of time beyond how slowly your parts decay?" Seeing that Maarani was apparently unfazed, CC-13 began to panic yet again. "I promise not to scream anymore. Or assume you want to grope my nutritional dispensers. And I will not use contractions in future. See?"

"Where exactly is the memory core, Carmen?"

"Please please please!" The last was drawn out longer, her pleas bordering on desperation.

There was hesitation for Maarani, who slowly tightened her lip. She hadn't quite realized just how extensive the 'personality' was. It seemed like there was actually a concept of death for the droid, something it _wanted_ to avoid. "I'm still going to need a mechanic on my ship."

"Absolutely! Just gimme me a digital manual and I'll download it as soon as possible!" CC-13's head twitched momentarily. "I mean, I will be happy to advise on mechanical problems that may arise. Provided I am left untouched."

Maarani glanced at one of the discarded pieces of synthflesh again. CC-13 looked pretty bad in her current state, but pushing that would probably make it upset again. "Fine. Clean yourself up when you come back on, and clean this lab too while you're at it." She looked at the pile of already removed parts with a sigh. "Can we at least bring your insides up to date?"

"If you actually remember to shut me off first, mistress."

A cringe came at being called that again. "Maarani. Not Ma'Arani, not mistress, and not kiddie."

The droid's eyes flickered again. "Maaaaaarani."

"We'll work on it. Initiate shutdown." As CC-13 collapsed into activity, she let out a long sigh and softly gripped Carmen's shoulder. "I'm really sorry about all this."

"It's fine, really. Just, don't tell my master about anything CC said, okay? If you've ever heard anything about Mirialans being strict, it's probably true."

"What would she have heard, Padawan Sendis?"

Both women froze for a moment before turning around. To Carmen's slight relief, it was Merena'Likta standing there, and not her own master. "We were… just discussing my tattoos. She was curious, and uh…"

"I was going to explain why I don't wear anything on my head in return. Since…" Maarani did her best to smile, a difficult thing to do while being stared at with an unamused expression. "We were just making conversation while we fixed CC-13 up. She… It seems to be working mostly fine now."

"Mostly fine?" Merena raised an eyebrow as she looked past to the droid itself, wires and other grimy parts sticking out of its stomach. "I assume you are working towards 'completely fine', then?" Her attention returned to the pair, both still wearing nervous grins. "I was hoping that we could speak, Tegama, unless you would prefer to continue assisting in this project."

Maarani swallowed before nodding hasilty. "Sure. There's not much else I can do here, right Carmen?"

"Yeah, just lots of comparing bits and pieces to put CC-13's guts back together."

Merena shook her head and turned back to the door she had come through. "Do keep in mind that some may not look the other way when they hear the giggles of padawans."

An awkward silence lingered as Maarani followed after the Jedi master. Four of them now had gone for a one-on-one talk, though she was quite comfortable around Koor at least. This was different from the others, in that she was now dealing with one of her own people.

"You kept the name of your clan, but shed almost all of your own name. Why is that, exactly?"

It wasn't unlike what happened with Dana before. But that had been an unintentionally painful reference to her past, not a direct question. Getting snappy over such questions was something that had to be moved past. "I couldn't bear people calling me Tegama, at first anyway. After a few years, Maarani just stuck so I kept to it. Haven't returned back home once, and there aren't a whole lot of Twi'leks in the Starfighters right now. So, I never had a need to use my full name."

Merena nodded sagely, though remained somewhat unsatisfied by the answer. "Even in the presence of one of your kind?"

Maarani stopped at that. She was quickly recognizing where that tone of voice was going. "If I wanted a lecture about what it means to be Twi'lek, I would have gone back to Ryloth. Having big tails sticking out the back of my head doesn't mean I should be dancing half naked in some bar rather than getting in a fighter and helping to defend the Republic."

"Did I imply that? I was simply concerned that you have no regard for the respect any one of your kind deserve."

"So much for an end to Jedi arrogance…"

What should have been followed by a mean glare at the least, or a loud lecture on her attitude at the most, was instead met with concern.

"You deflect things that make you angry by throwing sarcasm back. When something hurts you, there is a story that calls for pity to cover over the sadness."

By then they had exited the building into one of the many gardens, allowing Merena to gesture to a nearby bench where they could sit. "The others have prodded, for lack of a better term, at your emotional state, so that I could assess it. Normally I do this with every padawan that comes in person. We had concerns about you specifically that had to be observed indirectly first."

As they sat down, she took the opportunity to guide one of the butterflies that was fluttering through the garden onto her outstretched finger. It landed without issue, and remained there as she brought it closer to them. "You have deep concerns about yourself, because your grief for your family is not as strong as you think it should be. The same for your anger at your sister's betrayal. You know you are capable of expressing far stronger emotions, and yet they remain inside even when you try to release them."

It was both confusing to hear, and a perfect summary of exactly what she had been thinking for so long. As if something was holding back her ability to feel things to their full extent. "When Master Pala told me about what the White Terror did at the massacre, I didn't feel a whole lot of anything. I thought I was in shock, but just an hour or so later and I'm back to feeling pretty okay with things."

When it didn't seem like she was going to get an answer as to why that was the case, she shifted to the other thought weighing on her mind. "When Koor said that now was the time when I'd get help from the Jedi, I didn't expect pep talks from the Council itself. Am I really that important because I escaped the massacre? Because I'm having a hard time seeing it."

Merena was now faced with her unpleasant turn to conceal the truth from the young woman. Unlike the others, she had to use a different angle on it. "Jedi were forbidden from marriage in the past for reasons beyond simple emotional turbulence. There have been suggestions that affinity with the Force has a genetic component to it, beyond whatever random selection we see in the galaxy."

"And both of my parents were strong Force users…" The thought trailed off briefly. "Why was I so late to develop my affinity then? I know my brothers were pretty strong already, and Masaka seemed to be headed that way too."

"Who can say? Someone who ascribes to the more mystical tales of the Jedi would probably say the Force has been guiding these events to protect you. It could just as easily be a case of having so many other strong presences drowning out your ability to feel the Force, until they were away from Ryloth most of the time."

"Any theories on how a shuttle crash knocked it out of me, then? No-one else has really speculated on it since I brought it up." Again, it was immediately clear that she still wasn't going to get an answer to that question anytime soon. Pushing it any more would only annoy both of them. "Nevermind. Master Utan still believes I can recover, and who am I to argue?"

A nervous laugh came as she glanced up to Merena. There was a warm smile present at long last, which helped her to relax further. "It took twenty four years, but I finally have the chance to become a Jedi."

"I can only apologize again for the others on taking so long to put all of this into motion. It has been very difficult to strike the right point between inaction, and rushing into action without preparation." She outstretched her hand at last, letting the butterfly fly back off to the garden plants again. "It is comforting to see another Twi'lek walk these halls. There have been very few new faces since Yuthura left."

Maarani's eyes had been following the butterfly that she had brought over earlier. Again, Yuthura had been mentioned with some implication of significance, and yet she knew virtually nothing about her. "So, she was a Twi'lek as well?"

"She was my master, and friend. While I have never joined the Sith, there was a point when I began to fall towards the dark side. Yuthura helped lead myself and others back to the way of the Jedi." Merena turned to the young Twi'lek fully at that, taking hold of her shoulder. "Your mother was a student of hers, while they were with the Sith. Yuthura cried when she saw Rilana and other former students arrive at this very temple. Something her own Jedi master had done upon her return I think."

All Maarani could do was nod slowly as she took in the story. There had been stories told about her mother's redemption, but no actual names had been used. "You were friends with her too, then?"

There was a saddened look as Merena nodded. "The fault for not bringing you to Coruscant following that horrific day lies with me. I oversaw the rites for all the Twi'lek, and in my preoccupation with it all, a few things slipped."

"A month ago, I was still bitter. Now, actually knowing everything that was going on…" A deep sigh followed as Maarani allowed herself to gradually let the lingering feelings go. "I'm here now, on the right track hopefully, and alive."

On an impulse, she lifted her head and reached her hand out, this time focusing on a different butterfly in the garden ahead. After a few moments, it made its way over to her, landing on her finger just as the other had for Merena. The spectacle brought a real smile that soon broke into soft laughter. "One step at a time, huh?"

Merena smiled at the display as well, gently squeezing her shoulder before standing up once more. "So long as there is hope, very little is truly beyond possibility." As the butterfly returned to the garden, she gestured past to another area of the temple. "If you feel you are ready, you can complete the journey started eight years ago."

It had been on her mind briefly, but had remained an unspoken desire that she had been too nervous to ask about until the Council had made their decision. The offer was a welcome reprieve from asking. "I'm ready." For the time being, she was holding onto her moment of joy before the final bout of grief would sink in, so followed the Jedi Master down to the crypt with a small, but notable smile.

A shudder ran through her body as she entered the memorial room. It stretched on a fair distance, both sides of the narrow pathway surrounded by pedestals. On each sat three items. A simple metal urn, a nameplate, and a lightsaber.

"Six hundred and fourteen exactly. The rest were returned to their respective homeworlds for the rituals of their own people." Merena continued down the walkway until finally stopping towards the further end. Four pedestals bearing lightsabers that did indeed match the style of Maarani's own weapon.

By then the smile had faded, giving way to the inevitable sorrow she knew would come upon seeing them. The off-white hilt of her father's blade, and the deep black of her mother's older weapon. Kidano's weapon now had a faint green hue to it from the bronze finish, while Tilasa's double-blade hadn't changed from the dark grey cover he had worked hard to forge by hand, with some help from herself.

There was one noticeable absence in the display.

"Where's my mother's Jedi weapon?"

"With Yuthura, wherever she may be." As Maarani turned to her, the older Twi'lek rested a hand on her shoulder again. "Darth Lasidia openly stated she wanted it from Rilana, before her death. Yuthura refused to let such a disgrace stand, so she hid the weapon until they left." Her eyes drifted back to the urn carrying Rilana's ashes. "We never worked out why she wanted her Jedi weapon, and not her Sith one."

She continued to gaze over the black surface of the lightsaber, which stood out against the marble pedestal. "While some were uncomfortable with the idea, I insisted that Rilana at least have this part of herself to keep in the Force beyond."

Just looking at it made Maarani uncomfortable after a while. It wasn't an image of her mother wielding the crimson blade that came up however. Rather, the scarred monstrosity that her sister had become.

Eventually she forced herself to look away, and actually stepped back towards the entryway on further thought. "That's how she's going to be remembered in the end, isn't it? Not a Jedi who raised three children in the ways of the Force, only to be betrayed by her youngest. They'll remember her as the Sith who defected, had one daughter who turned to the dark side, and failed to be there to guide the other that survived."

"What happened to optimistic Tegama? The young woman who discovered the hope that she could recover what was lost."

Maarani exhaled as she pondered on that very question. Being thrown about from one charged experience to the next seemed to be her way in life so far. Perhaps this was the last bump in the road she had to overcome. "At the back of my mind, I'm going to live with the fact that the Sith have been a strong influence in my family. I don't know if that will ever change."

"You are not the only one to live with thoughts like that, Maarani." Merena approached, again offering the comfort of her presence before they both departed the room. "Every Jedi struggles with the dark side at one point in their life. Yours came much earlier than most, and while it was not an easy recovery, you are now far stronger for it. Never let doubt overwhelm everything else."

Barely after exiting the crypt, they were approached by Carmen in a panicked rush. Merena caught her skillfully before she crashed into them. "What's happened padawan? Did something go wrong with the droid?"

"No, CC's fine now, it's just…" Carmen took a moment to catch her breath, noting Maarani's great concern. "There's been massive attacks in the Dalchon sector. Droids and a cult of grey people hit a lot of planets just an hour ago. Master Pala sent me to find you for the emergency meeting."

"Very good, padawan. If there were no further instructions, I would like you and Maarani to assemble with the others in the training hall. I trust you left the droid inactive?" At the nod in reply, she lightly gripped both their shoulders and strode off in the direction of the Council spire, while they headed off to their own destination.


	10. Unsound of Mind

It had suddenly become a very strange group. Kiarna's half-Mandalorian Jedi 'friend' was resting in the medical bay, the earlier removal of all the torture tools being a convenient development. In the right wing quarters, the silent Sith from the hospital bed next to her was meditating until her return. It hadn't taken long at all to work out she could only communicate telepathically, which initially had only given her the name Bellara.

Instead, she had decided to wait in the chair beside Carudan, still stuck with wearing the black attire until Jayden was transferred off her ship. However long that would take. "Is this going to be the pattern now? I go out and get into bad situations while you run back here and bail me out at the last moment?"

"Don't get into bad situations then." Carudan punched in the next set of hyperspace coordinates and left the ship to do the rest. "It seemed unlikely we would be the only ones who had an interest in this woman. But I must say I didn't expect the groups actually involved at all. You're certain that they were referring to Maarani as the 'One'?"

"The droids explicitly stated her name, and those grey people used female pronouns. Now unless there's something you're not telling me…" She noticed his head turn and quickly moved on. "I think it's pretty obvious that there's a lot more to this than any young Twi'lek should be involved in, knowingly or otherwise. I need to return to the Sith and consult with my master again. She will have a far better plan on what to do next. In the meantime, we let Jayden loose and wait for her to investigate the matter from inside the Jedi."

Carudan nodded as he leaned back into his chair again, watching the view ahead as they hurtled through space. "Do you really believe she will be able to obtain the information we need eventually? It seems unlikely that they would share the truth so readily with someone otherwise posted to the border areas."

"Jayden is the only Jedi to encounter the 'Following' that we know of, and will mention what was said to her superiors. Like it or not they will have to bring her up to speed, unless they actually have the gall to silence her. Something I doubt very much." Growing bored with the view, she turned and stood up, taking a moment to test her shoulder again. The soreness had subsided a little more, but was still vividly present. "I think it's about time I bring our other guest up to speed."

The comm relay lit up as she was making her way down to the main deck, though Carudan immediately noticed. About to respond, he was struck with hesitation as a message came through anyway.

" _Shadow Hand, Darth Lasidia has issued an immediate recall. Please respond._ "

A few seconds passed.

" _Shadow Hand, come in. Acknowledge you are receiving this transmission._ "

His hand drifted towards the cut-off switch.

" _Kiarna, your mental link with Darth Lasidia has been severed. Whatever you are doing can wait._ "

He froze up, a feeling of concern starting to take hold. What little he knew of Force connections told him that breaking them was a truly monumental task. Maarani was obviously the cause in this case, but she had managed to do it within minutes of contact without either party apparently noticing.

After clasping his throat briefly, he finally opened up the audio link, imitating Kiarna's normal voice. "Shadow Hand here. I have 'recruited' a Jedi to seek out information from her brethren. Once she is deployed, I will return without delay." He closed the channel again to avoid further questions, leaning back once more with his usual sly smile.

* * *

On her way to the compartment where Bellara was waiting, Kiarna allowed her ethereal gaze to move further down to the medical bay. Jayden was still asleep, though had her lightsaber immediately at hand. Even after what they had been through she had no objection whatsoever to her continued caution. If anything, it was a prudent measure when Carudan was nearby.

 _Who is he, Shadow Hand?_

Kiarna waited until she was in the room itself before responding.

 _An ancient being, in his words. He disposed of my pilot to take her place, do not trust anything he says for a moment. And do not let your thoughts betray any secrets._

She carefully stepped around the kneeling woman, soon adopting the same posture opposite her.

 _I was not aware we had an Umbaran among our ranks still. Less so one that lacks the ability to hear or speak. A fitting pair we make._

Bellara tilted her head slightly as she looked over the black mask and hood in front of her. Such a stark contrast to the white she normally wore.

 _You continue to hide your true identity from the Jedi, for reasons that escape me._

Kiarna kept herself from shrugging. The 'plan' was still unresolved, as she had no idea of how she could possibly get in touch with Jayden in future.

 _Yes, she will play an important role in the greater plans. We need a foothold on Mandalore. That is all you need to know._

 _Very well, Shadow Hand. I will not inquire on the matter further._

There was another period of silence, during which Kiarna observed Bellara's eyes. They were constantly moving, examining her appearance in detail. It was the sort of behaviour she had seen most often from Rak'Sakar. The observation of a calculating killer.

 _Answer me this, if you will. Why am I completely unaware of who you are, when I should know every single Sith in our forces?_

Bellara looked directly at her mask, hints of red flaring across her violet irises.

 _I was one of Lord Rak'Sakar's many slaves until recently. What he tells Lord Lasidia and her Shadow Hand are not my concern._

It answered why she shared Rak'Sakar's mannerisms, and fuelled her growing suspicion. Getting the whole truth would have to wait until she had Lasidia's protection.

 _So you are apprentice to him, then? Or does he still think of you as a slave?_

The red in her eyes flared out momentarily, opening to a tiny ring of fiery gold around the pupil. She was good at keeping her emotions hidden, but not her grasp of the dark Force.

 _I serve the Empire, my status does not matter._

Beneath the mask, a small smile came to Kiarna's lips. That was her way into undermining whatever scheme Rak'Sakar was beginning to form.

 _I will discuss this with Darth Lasidia, discreetly. You may find your status will matter to many others soon enough._

She stood up at last and moved to leave, though her gaze was still on the Umbaran's face. Watching for the power hunger that was key to being Sith. To slaves, it was either an unknown concept, or the only thing in existence they desired.

Judging from her change in expression, Bellara was one of the latter.

She was in the makeshift medbay within a minute. Carudan had been busy with making it less and less of a lab of pain, to her distaste. Jayden was sitting up on the main table, clutching around the skeletal limb now serving as a temporary right leg.

"Your husband is very generous, Giving me this so I can actually walk to a hospital on my own two feet, like a Mandalorian should." She looked over at Azera quizzically, still finding it odd that a Sith of all people was so relaxed in her presence. "So what's the plan you've cooked up now? Giving me a temporary leg only to shoot me right after doesn't seem practical. You can't exactly fly up to a Republic ship and drop me off with them either, though."

"There's plenty of neutral places to leave you off at. Mandalore itself for one, though it would be a large detour for us." A simple enough lie to conceal where the fleet was stationed. Judging by the reaction it got from Jayden, the lie had worked.

Jayden herself shifted her body up a little more despite the pain, running through possible locations that would be safe overall. "I think less time on the same ship would be better for everyone concerned. Arguing opposing views really doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, and it's pretty clear that you're happy where you are with the Sith."

Kiarna stepped into the room fully at that, motioning her hand at a nearby chair to bring it closer. "I lost my face to a Jedi, a very arrogant, self-fulfilled man. No amount of apologizing can undo the damage he did, because he believed Sith had to be destroyed, not redeemed. We all have our reasons for taking sides in this war."

Her smile only grew as she continued to watch Jayden's reaction. She had completely bought into her twisted version of the true story. At some point, she had clearly seen the same arrogance in the Jedi for herself.

"After everything Mandalore the Preserver did to help stop Darth Nihilus, there are still some who treat me with disdain because of my heritage." She tilted her head back up to stare at the void inside the hood before her. "They are few, and Master Sereti has worked hard to stamp it out altogether."

"Sereti also distrusts other Miraluka, as did Darth Lasidia before her apprentice came along. I may not like the White Terror as your kind call her, but she opened a door for me. Would I have been better under the distrustful eye of your Grand Master?" She coughed a little, reaching a hand up to her mask to further emphasise the effect. "I mean her ever-present gaze of course."

Jayden didn't say anything for a while. The risk of offending Azera to a point where her hospitality would end was too great. And she needed the peaceful Sith, not an angry one. "I think we are both people who have issues with first impressions. I've seen your courage in the face of death, and willingness to work together to overcome threats. That is enough for me."

"As a Jedi, or a Mandalorian?" Kiarna tilted her head downward, glancing at the lightsaber by Jayden's side. "Take this bit of information for what it is, a leak that might just cost my head. Mandalore is not in real danger from the Sith. The cost of taking it vastly outweighs the prize."

It caught her off guard at first, such a bold revelation would change the situation back home significantly. But her pride had to remain subdued in favour of precaution. "I suppose I'll rest slightly easier at night. Thank you, Azera."

"Don't thank me yet. I'm just putting a favour out there for later. What those people said about me, about being touched by a presence… I need to find out what they meant, because I'm not sure I like the sound of it."

"I understand completely. Personally I want to know how they knew exactly who we were at a glance. Between the two of us, they had half a face to go on."

Again, Kiarna tilted her head about, feigning concern as she stood back up at last. "Food processor is on the upper deck, help yourself. I've told Bellara to stay in her quarters until you're gone." As she stood up, she gripped the bed momentarily to leave behind a small communicator. One of the simplest ways to test if her suggestions had worked after all.

Being in her own room after so long brought a very liberating feeling. The few items it contained were arranged exactly as she needed them to be. It was far away from the engines, and had a nice view of whatever lay ahead.

A quiet place to focus her mind, and let her vision wander out amongst the stars. She knelt down at last, not as comfortable in the Sith robes as she was in her own white attire. It was a mild distraction that she easily overcame, easing into the meditative state.

 _You have been touched by her presence. The One we follow._

Her head tilted a little. It felt like she was actually hearing the voice, not just recalling the memory of it, especially since that was not exactly what had been said.

 _Azera of Dakkan. The dark Miraluka, touched by the Lady of Balance, and the Lord of Hunger…_

For a moment, she could feel her eyes open, an impossibility given she didn't have any. And yet, she was now looking at events unfolding in front of her through sight of flesh, not of the Force.

A Jedi, and a Sith, standing over her. After a moment, she recognized the latter as her own master. The former was completely unfamiliar to her, the face obscured by her… blue hand?

As that vision faded, a far more disturbing one took its place. This time of herself, standing alone amongst fiery ruins. Two lines of red had been drawn on the mask, down from exactly where her eye sockets would be. In the left hand was a lightsaber, the handle unmistakably hers. The blade itself was a bright red, rather than her distinctive violet.

Her jaw went slack as a third manifested. 'Her' body was standing a few metres away, now in grey attire, and fighting Lasidia viciously. At some point, she would betray her master for some reason, rather than following through with her final wish for revenge against the Togruta.

* * *

She hadn't ever been allowed near her master's meditation room before. Then again, she was only thirteen. It was nearly impossible to go anywhere without being given a disdainful look, whether it was from the Imperial officers, older Sith, or the scaled man that made her spine freeze whenever he glared at her.

The door to the room itself looked even more imposing up close. Solid black, without a single scratch in the surface. Just standing in front of it, she could feel the cold brushing against her cheeks and lips.

They opened abruptly, startling her as the air hissed momentarily. The air that seeped from the room itself was surprisingly warm, considering how cold the door was.

"Enter, Azera."

Azera swallowed as she stepped through the threshold, flinching as she heard the door close behind her. In front, a dark figure was kneeling in front of the expansive windows, gazing out across the stars before them.

"Approach."

The young Miraluka immediately followed the instruction, nervously stepping towards the Dark Lord. She had only heard a few words from within the shadowy hood, the first of which had been telling her to leave after slapping her to the ground. A bit over a year ago, she had announced that an apprentice had been chosen.

"You have exceeded my expectations, apprentice. Embrace the pride that such high praise should bring. Take it, control it, use its power."

At that moment, Azera was feeling very little in the way of pride. She was still somewhat terrified of her master, and had been forbidden from speaking under the threat of death. Now it seemed she was unable to do as her master instructed, or explain why.

The terror grew again as laughter echoed around the room, sourced from her master. At any moment, she would watch her head roll back along the floor in the brief seconds before darkness set in.

"Pride has led to the downfall of the Sith countless times. It must be set aside if we are to remain strong." The dark figure stood up at last, towering over the Miraluka that was just over half her size.

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. This is the path to the dark side, something the Sith have forgotten. Substituted with their own code that merely builds upon corrupted pride. Passion for strength, strength for power, power for victory, victory for freedom. A twisted lie."

At last she turned around, reaching up to her hood and pulling it back over her montrals. There was raw fear to be seen on Azera's face as she finally received her master. "Answer these, my apprentice. What are you afraid of? What are you angry about? What do you loathe?" She leaned down towards the Miraluka, her solitary lekku barely touching against the floor. "Who do you want to suffer?"

Again, Azera swallowed. After a year of silence, it wasn't easy to make herself form words at last. A few sputtering attempts followed before she cleared her throat and finally spoke clearly. "I fear you, my master. I feel anger for the teachings of light. I hate my family…" Her jaw began to shudder as her desperation grew. She had to answer the last question. "I want them to suffer. I want everyone to suffer. Pain makes me happy."

"Then, my apprentice, I shall give you the tools to inflict pain. To make your family suffer for driving the corrupt teachings of the Jedi into your head." A slight hint of a smile formed, about as much as she could manage. "You need not fear me any longer. In time, you will become the most powerful Sith Lord the galaxy has seen. Ruling it as Empress, with armies at your call, and billions of lives at your fingertips. Does this make you feel prideful, Azera?"

She shook her head.

"You are learning, my apprentice. I have spent many years learning the ways of the Sith, and I will teach the right ones to you." She stood upright and began walking around the observation room, her hand trailing through the air along the shafts of light projected along the walls. "When the times comes, I plan to go to my homeworld, Shili, and cut off the lekku from every single Togruta I can find. When they are all burning in a glorious blaze, you will end me, so that I will always remember the sight of my final revenge."

As she turned her head, she noticed that Azera had fallen to her knees, her hands clenched tightly against her sides. Fear had given way to doubt. "Do you know why you feel the allure of the dark side? I did not realize it when I first saw you, but you are of a generation of Miraluka touched by it. A very special generation."

She made her way over to the girl slowly, resting her red hand on the light strands of hair. "I have encountered others of your generation. None have learned to keep the darkness from driving them mad. And yet, you have full control over it. It was for this reason that I chose you after all."

Azera tilted her head slightly. Her gaze was already exploring out from the ship, taking in the sight of infinite stars surrounding them. All promised to her without a condition.

When she was finally drawn back to her own body, she lifted her head up to face her master properly. "Teach me, master. I want to know everything about the Force."

"It will take many years, and there are many tasks that must be fulfilled between now and your ascension." Lasidia circled around again, this time so she could kneel down in front of Azera. "One of them can be started now. Search the Force for a name. The name that will make you the Dark Lord of the Sith."

Both hands reached around her head carefully to the tie holding her blindfold in place. It came loose with a simple tug, dropping down to her shoulders without a sound. The blindfold itself had pressed marks into the outer edges of her eye sockets and across the bridge of her nose. Between the marks, the unblemished flesh that filled those empty sockets stared at her.

"You are the seer with no eyes. A healer who spreads death at her touch. The ruler who ensures she has nothing to rule. A living paradox of ideas; born to the light, enshrouded by the dark. The perfect balancing point of the Sith. Unrivalled malice, with an infinite thirst for blood."

The smile grew just a little more. "Prepare for the day I turn you loose on the Jedi."

* * *

"Done doing whatever it is you Force walkers do?"

Normally, Kiarna would have been very upset over being broken out of her meditative state. In this instance, she was quite relieved, if not confused. "You don't know what Force walkers are at all." Her vision was now her own again, allowing her to observe Carudan gripping her shoulder. "I experienced visions, not an unusual thing for Miraluka. However, these were very, vivid."

She turned her gaze to the view outside. They had arrived somewhere, though at a glance she did not recognize the configuration of the stars. "Did you have to make an emergency stop?"

"We're over Mandalore. You've been meditating for fourteen hours straight. Aren't you aware of the passing of time?"

"I should be." She stood up abruptly and twisted around towards him, taking hold of both his shoulders. "What colour is Maarani? I was looking through biological eyes in all three visions, and I saw a blue hand in the first. Twi'lek can sometimes be blue, right?"

"They can be many colours, and I've not seen her for myself." He was very far from dismissing her concern. If they had become linked somehow, sooner or later Kiarna would become a threat to himself, in presence alone. That particular concern had to be brushed aside for the moment. "How do you even know what blue is, though? If you can't perceive colour-"

"I've looked through the eyes of my master. She taught me what colours are. It's how I navigate the ship." Kiarna released her grip on him and moved past into the corridor outside, still trembling from the experience. "Let's get Jayden out and run for the fleet. If she bought into my story, we'll hear from her at some point in the near future."


	11. Waking Memories

The last time Maarani had been in a room with a view had been over a month ago, and she didn't particularly want to think back on what followed. That and she was still uncertain about how her financial security would pan out, so a much cheaper room towards the middle of the towering building seemed to be her best option.

It was only for the night after all, ideally. By that time the next, the ship would be in much better condition, and even if she wasn't going to leave just yet, it would be worth getting used to living on it as soon as she could.

This was possibly the last night she would spend on something that wasn't a bunk with a thin mattress in a long while, and she was going to enjoy it.

"May I be of service?"

She jumped in fright as the service droid shuffled up to her. After calming herself, she politely shook her head. "I'll manage. Just come wake me when the Jedi call or whatever, I tend to sleep in late."

"As you wish. Please enjoy your stay." It shuffled past to the open door, turning in the hallway to close it after exiting.

Maarani shook her head before taking off her jacket, glad to be free of it at last. It still had an unpleasant feeling from the dockyards, as did the rest of her clothing. All day she had resisted the urge to scratch around her lekku on the chance that she inadvertently damaged her skin.

By then, she had wandered into the bathroom, where she slowly pulled her shirt off at last. Her gaze became lost on the mirror, glancing over the lingering bruises that dotted around her arms, shoulders and neck. Amongst them were minor scars, the results from occasional accidents over her years of service.

Her attention drifted back up to her left lekku after further glances. There was a small circle of discoloured skin, consistent with scar tissue. And yet she didn't recall being injured there before.

Or did she?

As her hand drifted up to the reflection, her jaw dropped a little. Somehow, it had completely slipped her mind that she had been pinned to the seat of her fighter by a shard of wood. There was a very distinct memory of how she freed herself, and feeling the White Terror threatening torture with it. But nothing that explained why it had magically vanished from her lekku, leaving only a minor sign of its presence.

Koor hadn't once commented on it, and she was the first person to see her aside from the Sith. And she distinctly recalled her mother mentioning that the dark side could never truly heal wounds.

She touched the mark directly. There was not even a hint of pain from contact, even when she lightly pressed against it.

Eventually she gave up on poking it, seeing as there was nothing else to be learned. The only thing she could do was stare back at her reflection, momentarily imaging it as someone else. "You're going mad. Can't decide if you're up, down, sideways or whatever. Didn't even try sneaking out to look for a date to bring back for a one night fling." A halted laugh came before she resumed undressing. It was followed up by relief as she finally entered the shower.

There was simply no comparing it to the sterile experience of sonic showers. Actual, physical water, however much it had been filtered, felt real. An actual sensation of being cleansed, rather than having the outermost layer of her skin disintegrated by the vibrations of the air. This was the closest she could feel to being back on Ryloth, without actually going home.

A shudder went down her neck as she carefully grasped around the base of her left lekku, easing her hands around to clear away the traces of the dockyard air. It was a barely noticeable difference, but her skin definitely felt better for it.

 _There's plenty of neutral places to leave you off at._

She turned her head abruptly. The voice was faint, and had apparently come from the wall on her right.

 _I lost my face to a Jedi, a very arrogant, self-fulfilled man._

This time it came from the opposite direction. It was different from her experience in the clearing. For one, the statements weren't directed at her personally, though she now recognized it as Kiarna's.

 _What those people said about me, about being touched by a presence…_

That caused a strong shiver, though she had no idea why. The shower was quite warm.

 _The dark Miraluka, touched by the Lady of Balance, and the Lord of Hunger..._

Maarani shook her head at last. Somehow that made the voice go away. While quite the haunting experience, she wasn't going to let it interrupt her only water shower in months. "I really am going mad. Imagining more voices, thinking someone's watching." She couldn't help glancing at the door with that. Nothing looked back at her. "Not like there's a shortage of Twi'lek wearing next to nothing in the galaxy anyway."

It was a while before she finally emerged, taking the time to dry herself before leaving the warmed room. With no further disturbance, or other strange happenings in the meantime, she slowly made her way over to the waiting bed. Again, she couldn't help feeling disappointed at how empty it currently was.

The disappointment faded as she slipped under the covers and such to the warmth waiting beneath. Comfort was comfort, even if experienced alone.

It wasn't comfortable for her lekku of all things. The pillows here were rather more puffy than what she usually got, and didn't really mould to the unique shape of her head like those thinner ones did.

"Of all the things…" With a sigh, she twisted onto her side, eventually sliding her arm under her head as well to balance it out. Hardly her preferred position, but it did finally allow her to slip into a much needed sleep.

Barely a moment passed before she began experiencing an odd sensation, as if she was suddenly leaving the confines of her body and perceiving everything around herself at once.

It wasn't the hotel room she was now seeing however. Instead, she saw a control room of sorts, covered in technology that she didn't recognize at all. Stranger still, they seemed to be devoid of colour or reflectiveness. A moment of panic struck as she suddenly noticed a figure in that room.

Kiarna.

An abrupt flash of light drove that still image away, drawing to one of herself instead. Long robes were draped around her, and her lekku were wrapped in leather straps, something she found odd. Stranger yet was the five lightsabers hovering around her, the only things she could clearly see the colours of. Two blue, two green, and one a blood-orange of sorts. Most disturbing of all was her expression of raw malice, clearly directed at someone in particular.

Three distinct markings had been painted around her face. Black, white, and grey...

She tried calling out in shock as she found herself suddenly staring into the face of a bloodthirsty Togruta. They had locked lightsabers in mid-duel, and while the expression before her was terrifying, there was something more behind it.

"Come on Teegs! Snap out of it!"

Maarani sat up abruptly, blinking for a moment before clutching at her eyes. Somehow she had been moved to a very bright room, and was now surrounded by several of the Jedi she had spoken with just hours ago. All of them looked deeply worried.

"What's going on?" Once her eyes adjusted, she glanced down at herself. Someone had put her in a white gown while she was sleeping, which was even more disturbing.

Dana took hold of her arm to gain her attention. "You didn't respond at all when the droid came to wake you, so he called us over for help. It's been a bit over fourteen hours from what we've gathered."

The Twi'lek shook her head after a moment. "That's impossible. Felt like I was asleep for just a minute at most." She looked at Dana again. "Fourteen hours?"

Koor took her turn to speak, taking hold of her other arm. "I sensed a great disturbance around you when we brought you here. Do you remember anything you might have seen or heard while unconscious?"

Maarani tightened her lip as she tried to think. Just moments ago, the images had been raw in her mind, though she had little idea about what they meant. Now she couldn't even picture them again. "No, they're gone now. Whatever it was terrified me, apparently. But I can't even recall a hint of what it was I did or didn't see."

Another look around brought her attention to Carmen and CC-13 at the end of her bed. It was hard to tell which of them she suddenly felt more uncomfortable about being around in the gown. After slowly sliding her arms up around her chest, she made her best effort to regain some of her composure. "So you got her fixed up, huh?"

"We were both worried when we heard about your condition, Mistress Maarani."

Carmen lightly elbowed the droid to remind her of the previous day's conversation. "She's pretty much ready to go. Got those maintenance protocols installed as well."

From that distance, she did look to be in a better state. There was less synthflesh dangling off the seams, and almost all of the grime had been cleaned away. Far from a nice looking droid, but certainly not an awful looking one.

It did remind Maarani of what she had expected from the coming day. "Will this change anything? To be honest, I'd at least like to take the _Distant Star_ out on a test run sometime soon." When met with looks of confusion, she bit down on her lip. "Didn't I mention that I wanted to call it _Distant Star_?"

"No, though seeing as I'm supposed to be the co-pilot among other things…" She had to step back as Maarani edged herself off the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Searching for pants. Anyway, what are all of you doing here when there's droids and such wreaking havoc right next to my homeworld?" There was a case positioned underneath the bed, containing new clothing that reasonably met her taste. "I can understand CC coming, she doesn't have anywhere else to be right now."

Dana crouched down beside her, touching the shoulder to get her attention. "There are others already on their way to protect Ryloth and the other worlds. Right now, you're the Twi'lek we're worried about."

Maarani paused with a dark shirt clenched in her hands. It didn't take long for her to look at Dana again, now wanting to apologize. "This is how it's gonna be for the next however many months. I say something stupid, and you reason it all out with that smile of yours."

She noticed one of the others was tapping her foot, which prompted her to peek back up over the edge of the bed. Koor looked back at her with a slight eyebrow raise, while Carmen was doing her best to cover her giggling. CC-13 stared on in confusion.

"Can I have a few minutes to get dressed? Please?"

* * *

"We tracked the vessel as soon as it arrived. It is headed directly for us. What should we do?"

A hand was raised for silence, the white-clad woman watching the screen that displayed the arrival of the ship. Few knew about the academy, and Master Dana wasn't due for another day at least. There was only one who would come unannounced.

"Make no attempt to stop whoever it is, at all. I mean it."

The eldest of the handmaidens nodded before returning down the long walkway to the others. "The visitor is to be given free passage. We will attend to our duties, and avoid any form of contact with them. Understood?"

Each of the other four nodded in turn before filing off to their assigned rooms, leaving Shamara to watch the entrance to the landing bay.

Shortly after the ship landed, a black figure emerged, tall in stature, and refined in movement. Obviously Sith, but as per the instructions of Atris, she made no attempt to interfere with the approach of the stranger.

At the head of the ramp, Lasidia pulled her hood back and looked directly at Shamara with her usual face of calm. "You haven't changed."

"And if you have, we will strike you down before you even lay a glance on our master."

"That will not be necessary. I have not come as a Sith Lord. Just as someone with a question." Lasidia's attention was fully on the handmaiden as she walked past, making her way through to the main chamber as she had done years ago. Back then, she had a great many questions to ask, pertaining to the Sith, and more specifically her predecessors. There was only one concern now.

"Darth Lasidia, it's been nine years. Come to prepare yourself for another massacre of adolescents?"

There was a period of silence as Lasidia approached, noting Atris' condition. Those nine years had not been kind to her aging body. "You know why I had to kill them. You could have pressured Visas into not being so liberal with the guidelines of the Jedi. Though, she might still be leading the Council if things didn't transpire as they did."

Atris turned in a sharp circle, slamming her cane against the floor as she lifted her finger to the Togruta's chin. "Damn you! I allow you to view the holocrons because you showed a genuine desire to keep the Sith in line. And then you unleash your savage pet on those children!"

"Children of the Jedi. I would remind you that I did infact bring order to the Sith, and kept them well away from the Republic, until your kind decided to change the rules."

"A Sith of all things complaining about cheating. You are an absolute piece of work, Lasidia."

Lasidia broke the intense stare that had formed to pace around the room, letting the anger that had begun to build drain away. "I did not come here to argue about the past. I have lost all contact with my apprentice, and signs point to it being due to her contact with a Twi'lek named Maarani. I have strong suspicions about what she is, but I need an answer."

The name meant nothing to Atris, who shook her head in disbelief at how casually Lasidia was stating her intentions. "What in the name of everything good makes you think I will help you track down and murder yet another person?" What started out as a scoff at her arrogance devolved into a coughing fit, forcing her to sit briefly and recover. "You are also assuming that the holocrons are still here."

"You wouldn't just admit to the Jedi Council that you had been lying for twenty two years, letting them believe they had the real ones locked away in the vault. There was already too much shame for what you did to Surik, again and again." She could hear Atris draw a raspy breath at that. Apparently her shame had only grown since then, perhaps adding to the degradation of her body in some way. "I need to consult them about a legend. Find a pattern to these fragments. For the sake of the galaxy, I truly hope that my suspicions are in fact wrong."

"You will excuse me if I'm not eager to help you heal that attack dog you call an apprentice." Atris gripped the cane again while forcing herself to stand back up. While not really necessary, it did make getting to her feet less gruelling. "This time I watch. There is little I have not already learned from them."

Lasidia tightened her lip as she followed the older woman through to the holocron room. They hissed at her as soon as she entered, every one of them flaring to life from her presence. "Age has not dulled their sharp tongues either, it would seem." She moved to the centre of the room, where she could gaze at all of them with ease.

"I have come seeking knowledge of anything related to a Force user that can destroy the Sith. Specifically anything that will allow me to stop her first."

A chorus of screams went around the holocrons. None of them liked the implication that such a being could possibly exist.

"She has begun to corrupt my apprentice. Whether it is to the light side or something worse I do not know. I need guidance."

The screams died down significantly as the holocrons settled into whispers amongst themselves. After some time, one of them finally began dictating to Lasidia. Just behind her, Atris' frown continued to grow deeper.

When it was done, Lasidia herself looked to the floor in disappointment. "The closest they can fathom is a Je'daii prophecy. It would seem I have no choice other than to kill this woman, before she destroys the mind of every Sith in the galaxy. I would have liked a better solution, Atris."

"Since you will not get the chance to try, I am glad to hear it. Now you have everything you will get from these holocrons, now leave." She gripped the lightsaber hidden behind her back with her free hand, slowly drawing it out on the chance that the Sith resisted.

With her slight smile, Lasidia nodded and left the room without issue, though did slow her pace to allow Atris time to close the distance formed. "I gave her strict orders to avoid Maarani, and I will not act until I have learned everything there is to know about this legend. If now is the time that you give up thirty five years of secrets, just to stop me, go right ahead."

There was a faint sense of smugness behind her intentions, but nothing more. The silence from Atris was satisfaction enough anyway. For the moment, she had the advantage, but was levering it just enough to get exactly what she needed, nothing more. And such restraint from a Sith was frustrating the old Jedi.

It wasn't until she reached the hatch to her vessel that the silence was finally broken.

"I'm not sure what Traya would think if she saw you now. But I know exactly what I see before me. A twisted woman who thinks she can control something that knows no limits, just because she knows so much about it." As the Sith walked up into her ship, Atris gripped her cane again. "I have been down this exact path, Lasidia. It very nearly led to the destruction of the Force. I will not let shame stop me if it happens again."

By then, Lasidia was apparently out of earshot, as the ship began blaring into life. Immediately she began back towards the observation room.

Shamara came to her aid along the way, hastening her retreat before the Sith vessel departed. The pain Atris seemed to be experiencing faded as the shuttle did. "Did she hurt you in any way? I warned her that such action would not be tolerated."

"No… It is my own guilt that is wearing me down now." The next breath she drew was far easier, no longer being stifled by such a dark presence. "I fear I am reaching the end of my usefulness here. I do not mind the idea of tending to the archives on Coruscant, but I do not want to leave you five here, alone. The Jedi would not allow you to come with me however."

"We all understand, master. It is our hope that the new overseer of the Academy will be just as wise as you have always been."

A softer chuckle followed from Atris as she held onto Shamara's arm. "I think it would be better, if you all ventured away from Telos. I have taught you all everything I possibly can. And this place…" She took another look around at the pristine white walls. Leaving them behind would be a very difficult matter to face. "I have kept it to myself for long enough. When my time comes, you must take the holocrons to the place I marked out. The Sith will not find them there. And they cannot be allowed to tempt the Jedi from within the vault."

Shamara nodded with all earnest. About to continue, her attention was taken instead by an incoming holomessage, which she acknowledged immediately.

The hologram that displayed in front of them was of Master Pala. " _Atris, I've called to inform you that Master Dana will be arriving with a young woman and a droid. I cannot divulge too much more, but we would ask kindly that you show her your full hospitality._ "

Atris rubbed at her brow, staring back at the hologram as she thought about what was being implied. "What's special about her? You would not send someone to me for training without a very good reason."

Pala was obviously hesitant, only relenting after Atris began tapping her finger impatiently. " _She's lost her way with the Force. Now I know you don't have the best history with this sort of thing…_ "

"If this is a new generation Surik, I want nothing to do with it. I don't think my heart can take a whole lot more at this point." She glanced at Shamara briefly, who had already folded her arms up in concern.

" _Atris, there are a great many things occurring across the galaxy. I don't like that things seem to be revolving around her, but that appears to be the case. Just keep her occupied until we can send her to the next phase of her training._ "

"I am not a babysitter."

" _She's twenty four. But her droid is a childcare model._ "

The humour was so poor that Atris couldn't help rolling her eyes at it. But it seemed that she was going to have little choice in the matter anyway. "I do not want to say I am growing too old for this, Pala, so I will not. Though I must ask why she is only now being trained."

Sereti turned her head to either side, presumably taking the counsel of her peers before speaking. " _She is one of the children of the Jedi. Master Dana will explain everything on arrival, I assure you._ "

The holocom shut down at that, leaving the old Jedi to continue rubbing at her forehead until it grew sore. "I cannot believe I am saying this, but I do wish Brianna was here now." She gripped the cane and stood up with much more ease this time. "I must rest. See that the holocron room is locked down, and prepare the guest quarters for another."

"Of course master."

This time when she made the usual journey to her quarters, her steps were accompanied by the whispers of the holocrons. Berating her for not striking Lasidia down when she had every opportunity to do so, then and now.

One warned that the worst had yet to arrive.


	12. At Peace

During a training exercise on Mires when she was six, she had broken her leg in three places after being knocked down a short cliff by a zakkeg, one of many transported there years earlier. It had found its way down to her by the time rescue arrived, they could easily down the beast if she had asked them to. There would be no shame for a girl of her age to admit she could not fight one in her condition.

None of them had expected to see the beast fly clear over the next cliff with only a gesture from her hands, though they all immediately knew what it meant.

She couldn't have felt more terrified on that night as her clan discussed what her newfound Force sensitivity would mean. No Mandalorian had ever demonstrated such power before.

That leg, the leg that had opened up her mind to the wonders of the Force, was now gone for good.

"Make it hurt more why don't you?"

"Applying anaesthetic will triple the length of the procedure. We need every nerve and receptor fully active."

Jayden would have swiped the droid's head off were her hands not desperately grabbing the sides of the bed as they continued to attach the base of her new leg to the stump of her right thigh. One painful incision after the other.

The new leg in question was lying on a nearby table, currently being fitted over with synthskin. It matched her left leg a little too well, lacking the scars and slight muscle deformity that had come with healing the breaks in her bones.

She had plenty of scars on her face and arm to compensate now. Her eye had escaped the blast, and while her cheek and jawline were sore, they were still quite passable.

Her hand was the greatest concern. Holding a lightsaber up was nothing compared to driving it through Sith and droids and other foes. The medical droids attending to her had ignored it so far, and she had a very strong grip on the bed still.

"Progress?"

The attending droids looked to the arrival, a towering man that even Jayden herself had to look up towards. Upon seeing him, she nodded as best she could while enduring through the gruelling surgery. "Chief Mires, I am honoured."

He was quick to remove his helmet, holding it against his left side as he approached the bed. The other hand stroked down his green mandibles as he inspected the operation. "Fortune does not favour your right leg, does it Jayden? I assume there is a reason for your anguish now?"

Jayden glanced to the droid before it could speak, slow in turning back to the chieftan. "I have lost a great part of myself. I will not so easily let it fade away."

"Jayden, I understand what you are trying to do. It is not necessary." He waited patiently until the droid had finished before finally continuing. While Jayden was clearly still in pain, she was no longer on the verge of being overwhelmed by it. "I am not here as your leader, but as your mentor. You do not need to put on a show of valor to retain my respect."

By then, they were beginning to attach the cybernetic leg, regularly prodding her in different areas to test that her nerves were registering contact. It was now an annoying distraction more than necessary agony. "It is not a show, Arda. I don't feel like a Jedi right now, and I barely feel like a Mandalorian."

Of all things, Azera was on her mind at that moment. The anomalous Sith, who for whatever reason had slipped her a communicator before her departure. Where to begin in her report to the Jedi Council was the question she couldn't answer.

"Why mentor, then? Am I apparently in need of counsel? Or are there questions others intend to ask. Questions you will help me prepare for."

Arda gripped his helmet a little tighter before finally placing it on a nearby table. "I had hoped to counsel you on personal matters when you returned from your mission for the Jedi, actually. This has obviously changed things."

"No, please. Let's discuss them now so I don't have to think about this further." Her attention was momentarily taken by her foot. She could feel the toes flexing in a very real way. Far beyond the standard technology she expected to be fitted with. "Why…"

"You have done a great deal in your years, Jayden. For the Jedi, for Clan Mires, and for our people as a whole. Consider it a gift." He waited a little longer, letting Jayden have her moment of awe. When the look passed back to him at last, he smiled a little and continued. "Many of the clan miss seeing you back home, especially your mother. We had hoped you would take a well-deserved break from all this spy business to spend time among your people, for only a little while. I certainly didn't wish it to happen in this manner."

Jayden gripped at the new leg, still surprised by the tactile feeling of it, but growing accustomed at last. "That poor pilot the Sith captured changed the plan to rest. Since my contacts are dead anyway…" Her other hand gripped at her lightsaber as she attempted to pull her leg back. There was still a great deal of pain in what remained of her thigh, but it was worth seeing the first return of her mobility.

The positive thought remained in mind as she switched her grip from the lightsaber to Arda's arm. "I will return when I can walk off the ship freely. My word on that."

"Then it is agreed. Rest well Jayden."

She watched him depart, putting his helmet back on as he left the room. Once gone, she reached into the small pocket by her side and removed the small communicator. Until then, asking about the pilot seemed like a pointless question, given how unlikely it was that Azera knew the details of that capture.

It was shoved back into that pocket, after which she looked to the droid making final adjustments to her leg. "I need communication access to Coruscant, specifically the Jedi Council, as soon as possible. Can you arrange that?"

As always, there was a fair amount of soldiers and adepts standing to attention as Kiarna descended from her ship to the deck of Lasidia's vessel. It was a tradition Rak'Sakar had insisted on maintaining, and she had no reason to argue with it. After all, it was a very good reminder to everyone else of her importance, and power.

She was met at the end of the procession by Rak'Sakar himself, and Morgak to her distaste. Both of them seemed oddly lacking in disapproval of her for some reason.

"It is nice to see you can follow orders after all, even if it is only when your life is in danger."

There had been discontentment when Carudan mentioned impersonating her voice, but the warning had proved valuable after all. "I follow orders from my master. The Empire answers to the Sith, remember?"

"This is not the time, Kiarna." Rak'Sakar began moving away from the procession once Kiarna was at his side. "Your master is returning from Telos at this time. Since this Twi'lek is a matter between the two of you, I will only ask about the droids and grey cultists who attacked you in succession."

Kiarna was rather surprised by the display of succinctness from him. There were still suspicions relating to Bellara, but they had waned slightly. "The HK-50 droids I encountered claimed to be hunting me because I made contact with Maarani. But, I also know they attacked several other Sith, as well as Jedi. The cultists are still a mystery, though I do know they are not from either order."

"Do you believe they are connected, then? The last thing we need is yet another rogue entity that is bent on attacking us."

"The fact that the cultists showed up minutes after I arrived seems to indicate as much." By then, they had reached one of the corridors, easily out of earshot from anyone else. The concern had to be removed before she could elaborate further. "In addition to the Jedi spy, I was able to rescue an Umbaran novice of yours, according to her anyway."

Rak'Sakar acknowledged it with a slight nod before bringing the group to a standstill. As Morgak stepped back a little, he turned his head to the young Sith at his side. "If she survived two successive attacks that wiped out many of her fellow novices, then there may be a promising future for her after all. It saves us the trouble of executing the failures ourselves."

"It robs me of watching their suffering. But I see your point, Dark Lord." Kiarna let out a very faint sigh of relief as she kept her gaze on Rak'Sakar's face. Not a trace of deceit to be seen. "She is well disciplined, unlike some I know of. Where is our own Twi'lek friend, if I might ask?"

"She has been sent to another ship for the moment. I believe she will be more willing to supply answers if she believes I am not watching over her shoulder. You need not be concerned about her invasive presence." He turned his head to the corridor ahead of them again. Some of the interrogator's agents were approaching their position.

"General, have the Umbaran report to the hall. I will reassess her standing, and if she passes, you may find yourself with an apprentice, Kiarna."

By then the agents were just in front of them. Rak'Sakar turned back to them, his voice notably dropping the smoother sound he used in their presence. "I assume she has divulged something of note?"

Kiarna tilted her head a little as the report began. Her gaze was drawn past Morgak to an odd area of shade behind him. Despite not being able to perceive shadows caused by light.

"Very well. He may proceed at his discretion, then. Kiarna?"

She directed her attention away from the shade back towards Rak'Sakar. "Yes Lord?"

His eyes narrowed momentarily as he noticed her distraction. "Would you accompany me to the hall? That Umbaran novice will be waiting there when we arrive."

"Of course." As he began moving on, she took another glance at where the shadow had been. It was gone.

* * *

"Any luck?"

CC-13 shrugged with her upper arms, while the lower ones continued to fiddle with the tedious mess of wires in the open panel. "It seems previous owners have made rather poor attempts at their own modifications. This is a bigger mess than my insides have been for the past few decades."

It was slightly amusing to Maarani, who clasped the droid's shoulder before backing out of the tight compartment. "Do what you can, and we'll find a way to work with it."

"As you wish, Mistress Maarani."

The Twi'lek left it at that, wandering back down the tight corridor to Dana's quarters. There, she found the Jedi arranging the few things she had brought on board into neat compartments. "Everything set? Didn't leave the lightsaber in the sock drawer or anything?"

Dana smiled a little at that, lifting the weapon up from behind one of her robes to confirm that was not the case. "I do actually know someone who does that, unfortunately. It really isn't a respectful place to put a lightsaber." Once the last of her clothing was packed away, she returned her lightsaber to her belt, then followed Maarani out of the room. "Come up with anything yet?"

"Well, actually, how does an important trader from Coruscant and her long-term bodyguard sound? Since we're gonna be stopping over for supplies frequently, needs something that fits with the travelling, right?"

As they reached the cockpit, she stopped by the navigation panel to make one final check on their projected course. "Let's face it, people expect Twi'lek women to be dancing bare skinned in clubs, not giving mean glares and shooting guns. They'll all wonder what I'm doing, not what you're doing." Once Telos was locked in, she moved to her seat and sat down. It still felt quite comfortable.

"Except you're the one who has experience with 'haggling'." Dana sat down in the co-pilot seat, twisting it to face Maarani. "Since I can't mind-trick through a bad deal, I'm probably going to end up standing there stammering in confusion and ruin the whole thing."

"We're not gonna deal in anything illegal or rare though. If worst case happens, you just tell them you'll go somewhere else. They know it's a real possibility, so they'll usually try to settle. Otherwise I'll kick your ankle when it's a deal you should take."

"Could you please think of a signal that won't give me a bruised foot?"

"I'll try." Maarani twisted her chair around fully to look back down the ship. "Hey CC! Any luck?"

The droid's voice was muffled by all the walls in the way. "Almost got it! Just kindly don't try starting the ship before I have closed this all up!"

"Will do!" She twisted back around, clasping her hands across her stomach and eventually tapping her fingers in tedium. There really wasn't anything to ask Dana that she hadn't already been informed on over the past few days, apart from their first destination which had been kept quite secret. "So who is this Atris? There was a weird tone when Pala mentioned her name, and I seem to be the only one who doesn't know anything about her."

Dana was also hesitant to speak for a bit, though did relent eventually. "Atris was a rather… outspoken member of the Jedi Council, way back when the whole thing with Darth Revan and that blew up. She messed around with Sith holocrons for a while, but Surik and the new Council helped her redeem herself."

"So if she was redeemed, why does Master Pala seem to dislike her?"

"Well, that's probably a more personal matter." When it became obvious that the answer wasn't satisfactory, Dana continued. "Surik made her apprentice, Visas, Grand Master of the new Council, but Atris didn't exactly get along with either of them. And Master Pala was apprentice to Visas, so her being the replacement leader of the Council when Visas left for wherever didn't settle well with Atris at all."

Maarani nodded throughout, taking it all in slowly to get her facts straight. From what little she knew, it did seem odd that the succession of Grand Master had gone like that, but it certainly wasn't her place to question what had been decided long ago. "She's still one of these good-relations people though?"

Dana nodded, carefully considering what she could and couldn't divulge about her own mission there. "Atris is one of the oldest surviving members of the Order, and while she doesn't like a lot of the changes made, that hasn't stopped her from giving help and advice. She deserves every amount of respect given."

"I've lost the sarcastic edge if that's what you're trying to say. Didn't expect eight years of disliking the Jedi for keeping me in the dark to vanish so soon, but here we are. Just needed to sit down and talk it out."

For a moment, Dana was about to congratulate Maarani when the Twi'lek rolled her eyes and began twirling her chair around. "Teegs, there's nothing wrong with having a level of maturity. We owned up to our mistakes, and now we're working together to set things right." It didn't stop the chair twirling. "Teegs you're going to get dizzy. I don't think I want to fly alongside a dizzy pilot."

"I'm just seeing if I can feel the blood rushing to the tips of my lekku." She continued on until Dana flicked one of them. "Ow! What happened to being the mature one? Also that really hurts."

"You're twenty four, not two."

"And you're a Jedi Master."

"A Jedi Master with a Twi'lek that has bouts of immaturity."

"I'm not your padawan."

"If you were, you would end up with more than just a light flick, believe me. Scrubbing the entry hall for example."

That stumped Maarani, who finally stopped rubbing where she had been flicked. With a sigh of defeat, she sat up and settled her hands on her knees. "I do want to become a Jedi. I suppose I just need help getting everything settled and focused."

Dana smiled again at that, taking hold of her shoulder warmly. "That's what I'm here for, Teegs." She glanced through the window ahead at the other Jedi going about their day without concern. Such a normal life to live, one she was about to leave behind for the next several months. "I can't guarantee I'll be the best help if you get scorned by a girlfriend, though. Never been something I've gotten myself involved in, or even intend to."

"I'll keep that in mind." Maarani was about to leave to go help CC-13 when the droid showed up anyway.

"Good to go. I can get working on the shower now if you would like."

"Wait until we're in hyperspace first." After a few pre-flight checks, she carefully powered up the engines. The steady hum brought a smile to both her and Dana. "Much better than it was when we left the dockyards. I'm impressed." She switched over to the comm unit once the checks came through. " _Distant Star_ is ready to launch, do we have clearance?"

" _That you do. Good luck out there,_ Distant Star _. Force be with you all._ "

As they slowly lifted off the ground, Maarani noticed Carmen waving from the edge of the safe zone. She did her best to wave back with a smile while simultaneously guiding the ship high enough for the autopilot to take over.

Once it did, she hummed contentedly while leaning back into her chair at last. "Shame she couldn't come along, would've been nice to have someone around to fix CC up."

"Mistress Carmen did an excellent job of restoring my insides, actually. I believe I can self-repair in future if it proves necessary."

Maarani tilted her head around a bit. "That was one good reason to have her around."

"Teegs, it's not a good idea to mess with Mirialans by flirting with their padawans. They do have their own rules about being chaste early in life."

"Was that why Mistress Carmen got flustered when I-"

"CC!" The Twi'lek shot an awkward glance at Dana, who glared back with no shortage of disapproval. "It wasn't my fault. She started blabbing about Twi'leks being sex-maniacs. On that note where did you even get that impression CC?"

The droid made a buzzing sound, low pitched at first, but steadily growing back up to her normal tone. "I saw… things, while clamped. I was not always in an alley you know. Have you not wondered why I have such an unusually casual vocabulary for a droid yet?"

"I hope you know what parts of your vocabulary should remain unspoken, then." Dana looked back to Maarani, still unimpressed by what she was hearing, though she had dropped the glare. "Yes, the Jedi have relaxed the rules on becoming romantically involved quite a lot, arguably a good thing, but we still have to respect racial customs. And yes, I can understand what this kind of loneliness is like, even though I don't experience it myself."

Maarani had grown quiet by then, though her growing frown did soften away a little at Dana's attempt at empathy. "I was going to say that she reminds me of what Masaka was like, early on. Though we didn't really get much time to actually chat so I suppose this is just more wishful thinking on my part."

She turned and left the cockpit without further word, ignoring Dana's attempt to apologize, and CC's question of concern.

The silence left behind went on well after they left orbit. It wasn't until after they had entered hyperspace that she took her turn to relax, still feeling guilty for causing such embarrassment. "C C one three. C C one E?" She glanced at the droid, who tilted her head in response. "C C L E… Cecile?"

"I am afraid I do not understand, Mistress Dana. Why are you dissecting my name and attempting to convert numbers into letters?"

Dana gave a half shrug, leaning against her chair slightly. "I prefer coming up with quick names. Teegs for Tegama'Arani, Cecile for CC-13. I came up with Torbut, you know, his full Chiss name is Jegh'orbu'dornamo. Horbud didn't sound great..."

"I believe I have heard something like that in my time, not in a nice context, so I do understand." The droid tilted her head again, contemplating the name given. "Cecile. CC-13, Cecile. Ceeeeeecile." Her eyes flickered briefly, before turning to Dana directly. "I will need time to contemplate this."

"Go ahead. I'll be here." She was about to twist back in her chair when she noticed light shining into the corridor from Maarani's quarters. "First, could you make sure she's alright? I think she'll be a little more open to you right now."

Cecile tilted her head again, still finding Maarani's behaviour to be confusing. "Could you explain why the mistress is in distress later? This is the first time I have seen a Twi'lek act like this."

"She's going through the motions of grief. It's actually a good thing that she's still having emotional reactions. Bottling them up can be terrible, as I'm sure you know from experience."

Cecile's eyes flickered again. "I will contemplate this as well, then. It appears I still have much to learn." The droid finally wandered out with that, leaving the Jedi to swing back and watch the stars rush around their small vessel. Telos was just hours away.


	13. Thirst

She reminds me of what Masaka was like, early on…

Her blooshot eyes flicked open, gazing across the white room. Again, she found herself staring at the interrogator that had followed her around while she was still new to the Sith. Now, her power far outscaled his, and he knew it. "What do you want?"

"I find your choice of meditation poise to be… amusing."

Masaka flipped forward onto her feet in a smooth movement, bringing herself face to face with the adept. "There's less blood in my head now. I need to balance that out." She hadn't ever been that close to the man before, always choosing to make a hasty departure when she noticed his presence. He was far less intimidating now. "I don't like it when I'm followed around without cause."

"Rest assured then, I have cause." He stepped to the left so he could begin pacing the room, twisting a small rod between his fingers. "I've been observing you for the past eight years, taking note of every word said, every glance passed. The pattern before and after your encounter with the holocron has not changed. This should be impossible, as a nineteen year old Twi'lek girl cannot possibly have the mental fortitude to not be overwhelmed by the personality inside. Let alone two others from holocrons you stole before returning here."

"Did Lasidia tell you that? Or have you been conversing with the voices trapped in my head while I sleep?" She looked at the rod he seemed to be pre-occupied with behind his back. What possible purpose it could serve was beyond her.

" Darth Lasidia ordered you to converse with the holocron, learn its secrets, and then destroy it. Whether you could have defeated a Jedi Master without the holocron's knowledge is irrelevant. You defied a direct order, and that makes you a potential danger."

Masaka scoffed at his attempt at intimidation, making him cease the pacing with a glare. "A bigger danger than becoming the most powerful Sith Lord the galaxy has seen yet? She's chasing ideals, a unified Sith order that doesn't self-destruct. I could do that with force of will alone. 'Could' being the key term here." She gestured to the stumps on her head at that, still feeling raw from the blade's touch.

"You don't fit into the hierarchy established. In fact you've openly shown contempt for it." He slowly brought his hand around to present the rod, crystal clear material, and flawless in its carving. "You had this when we took you from the enclave. To this day we haven't been able to make even the slightest speculation on what it actually is. And at the moment I brought it into the room, I felt an echo in the Force, calling to you."

She was ready to snatch it away when he stretched his arm out, very clearly threatening to drop it. "I don't know what's going on with my sister. In all our time together I never sensed she had any influence on the Force. Though it's become clear she's already given up on me. Weak as always."

"Why should you care? I'm not getting the impression you have any reason to hate your sister, and you certainly don't fear her like Darth Lasidia. All that remains is a distraction."

"She still carries the same blood as me. Blood that is a reminder that our lineage is of Jedi, and of traitors."

"And here we have the first mistake." He tossed the rod to her and began pacing again, this time right in front of her as he contemplated how to explain his point. "This is not a Sith order that believes in purity. It believes in unity, and getting upset because half your DNA was provided by a Twi'lek of the Jedi is childish and disruptive to that unity. This is why we do not trust you."

With another glance at the rod, he sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing along his closely shaved head. "It would be a mistake to cross Darth Lasidia. Unlike her counterpart, she is very savage when dealing with insubordination. You may have seen her bite that one Jedi's throat out so many years ago."

"Mira was a fool anyway."

"Nevertheless…" Before leaving, he tossed over an earpiece, specifically designed for a Twi'lek woman. "You can begin to gain our trust by informing us whenever you receive an impression from your sister. If you really want to kill her personally, I'll make sure my agents bring her back alive. Darth Lasidia will have to give final approval, but I'm sure that can be arranged. Maybe once you've calmed down after the kill, you'll get your lekku back."

Masaka was about to put it on underneath her headdress when she grabbed his shoulder. "No codename to refer to you with? I think I'm owed that much for being stalked."

The interrogator gave a slight smirk as he slipped from her grasp. "How does Silent sound? Very unfitting, and all the better for it."

* * *

Normally Kiarna felt an urge to groan in contempt whenever she saw someone kneeling in submission. Such a position had always been for meditation in her mind. Having it used for the lowest kind of respect was ironically disrespectful, to herself anyway. For the time being, it was Rak'Sakar who was giving the orders, and he was quite clear with them.

"How did you among all others survive? Many of your fellow Sith were stronger, whether it be in physical form, in aptitude of the dark side, or in force of will. What allowed Bellara, the silent Umbaran to come through without a scratch?"

Given how difficult it was to read the lips of a Barabel wearing a dark hood, Bellara was entirely reliant on Kiarna for communication, opting to speak through her as well.

"One of the Fallen, as Lord Kiarna mentioned they were known as, came upon me. I twisted his mind into seeing his brethren as the enemy, and escaped. Normal mind tricks do not work on them. They are somehow… dead to the Force, and yet very much…"

Kiarna's chest was already starting to heave, until it reached the point where she could not feasibly continue. Bellara's description of the Fallen was exactly how Maarani had been described.

Just over the pale dome of the Umbaran's head, she could see a growing shadow.

"Kiarna?"

"It's identical to…" The shadow vanished as soon as she focused on it directly. Her heart was still racing in dread, no longer just because of the Fallen. "This Twi'lek, Maarani. She is akin to these cultists, somehow. The Following referred to her-"

The shadow was now rising up behind her, taller, wider, beginning to form a humanoid shape.

"Bellara, speak into my mind. What is happening to her?"

Kiarna whipped around, drawing her lightsaber out in the same motion and swinging it at the shadow. It passed through without even a flicker, and would have taken off Bellara's head in the follow-through had Rak'Sakar not blocked it himself.

"Kiarna! Drop your weapon and cease activity!"

For a brief moment, a mask emerged from the shadow as a dark hand reached up to her own. It too was white and red in colouration, though was far more terrifying in design.

Dwomut nun, Derriphan'ari.

Her lightsaber clattered to the floor as she bolted out. Imperial soldiers were hurled against the walls as she passed by. The Sith weren't affected in so drastic a manner, but did note a distinct bite of cold in her wake.

Alarms began to ring in her ears, though none dared to try and stop her. There was only one place she had left to go, the one place she would feel safe from the nightmare that had begun its return, all the way from the depths of her mind.

She finally stopped when she had her arms firmly wrapped around Lasidia, head pressed against her chest as she struggled to keep herself from breaking down altogether.

Having only just stepped off her ship, the Dark Lord herself was utterly confused about the alarm, and the hysteria of her apprentice. In her consistent calm, she urged her back onto the ship, affording her much needed privacy in a moment of weakness. One statement was being consistently uttered from behind the mask, justification enough for her terror.

"He's waiting for me on Katarr."

* * *

Concern was the only thing on Sereti's mind. Eight different contacts had all told her the same thing. A moment of darkness, experienced across the galaxy by every Miraluka at the exact same time. She had been very young when it happened the first time.

It was very relieving to hear the doors open to Utan, who approached in his usual serene pace. "There is too much going wrong in the galaxy. If he tries to return now, it would throw the balance of the Force off altogether. We do not know what that would do to Tegama."

"Indeed. Our greatest hope for peace could just as easily go mad from the extent of her true purpose, or worse if she is consumed" Utan stopped at her side, also casting his gaze out across Coruscant. There wasn't anything noteworthy before them, but Sereti's vision went far beyond his own.

"If circumstances were different, I would go and investigate this disturbance myself without hesitation. But I can not justify allowing anyone else to face the terrible power of the current Sith Lords." Her next breath had a strong shudder to it. Darkness from the past and the present was closing in all around them. Only she knew the full extent of the danger. "I may come to regret this, but if preventing his return means sacrificing one of the Republic's pilots, then the choice has already been made."

Utan nodded sagely again, gradually reaching his hand up to hers in comfort. "She was right to choose you. Never forget that.

Her fingertips brushed against his claws briefly as she turned away. The Council room looked painfully empty at that moment. "I need her guidance, now more than ever. I have tried to glimpse the path ahead for any sign of where to go, but it has been closed to me."

"Do not try to force the visions to come, then. Let them appear when the time is right. We did not foresee the events that finally brought Tegama to us, but we did make preparations when Koor made her intentions known. When the choice between fighting a Sith of the past, and a Sith of the present becomes clear, we will all be there to support your decision."

"And what of the Sith of the future? If we find solid evidence that Kiarna is one of my people, withholding that from the Luka Sene would be treason on my behalf, and betrayal by the Jedi as a whole." Sereti clasped her hand around her forehead, underneath the veil in a very rare display. "One decision that we cannot agree to declare a mistake. One decision that destroyed the potential for peace. And here I am, having to make another decision that will affect the galaxy."

The holoterminal signalled to them before either could continue. Grateful for the distraction, Sereti motioned her hand to bring up the incoming link. The sender was quite unexpected. "Jayden? How are you getting a message here from Dalchon?"

" I'm on Mandalore. Got brought here by a Sith of all people, a Miraluka I'm pretty sure. We escaped the hospital massacre on Arkanis together. "

Sereti immediately glanced at Utan for a moment, her suspicions running high. "This Miraluka…"

" She was wearing normal Sith attire, and had her face covered the whole time. On Arkanis we ran into two groups of cultists, one of which shared personal details about us that they shouldn't have known, and said the Jedi couldn't get involved with their personal affairs. "

"We have far too much to worry about already. What else did you learn about this co-operative Sith?"

Jayden looked down at her artificial leg briefly. " They called her Azera Vass of Dakkan, and since that's a Miraluka colony I just assumed as much. She was rather critical of what previous Sith had done, and seemed to be genuinely concerned about me after a while. She dropped me off here and left, said that her history with the Jedi forced her to become Sith. "

Again, Sereti looked to Utan again. That behaviour definitely wasn't consistent with everything they had learned about Kiarna's from Maarani. And while it was unlikely, it was still possible that Miraluka away from the homeworld had followed her example and joined the Sith. She had to be certain though. "Jayden, we have had word that the White Terror was on Dalchon during the attacks. And a Twi'lek who survived an encounter with her believes that she is in fact a Miraluka. Is it even remotely possible that…"

" I highly doubt it. Azera says she got shot by the droids while trying to get a group of children to safety. I didn't see this for myself, but I do know a liar when I hear one. That was not a voice that laughed while butchering Jedi adolescents for fun. "

"I had to ask. I suppose we can draw what little comfort there is in the knowledge that Lasidia's rage has not spread throughout the entirety of the Sith." Sereti tightened her lip as she considered it a little more. Their history with turncoats was poor, but this was a different circumstance. "Do you think she could be persuaded to help us locate the White Terror? She does not sound like one of the corrupted generation, so she may see them for what they really are."

" I don't think she's anywhere near that level of the Sith hierarchy to help. I'm sorry Master Pala. "

"The fact that she helped you at all is reason enough to be glad. You're free to return to Mires, or here if you would prefer. I and many of the Council will be elsewhere for the next few weeks, so I do hope that your recovery is swift. We need every rational mind with a strong voice right now."

" Will do. My regards to you, and to Master Utan. "

As soon as the hololink closed, Sereti had to choke back the Miraluka equivalent of crying. They had come within a hair's width of losing their strongest tie to the Mandalorians, and the chance to track down Kiarna had slipped through their fingers. The fact that more of her people had joined the Sith seemed trivial in comparison.

Utan once again offered support, this time in a verbal manner. "We will pull through this, together. As the Jedi before us have faced their crises, we too will face the ones before us. Tegama will join the Order when she is ready, and she will restore peace."

By then, Sereti had managed to calm herself, though the self-doubt remained. "I truly hope you are right. I could not live with the knowledge that I had brought about the downfall of the Jedi, after everything done to rebuild it."

* * *

"I can't do this any longer, Master. It's too much now."

Lasidia did her best to smile, however little comfort it would offer. Kiarna couldn't actually smell the candles she had placed around the room thanks to her mask, but she knew better than to suggest she take it off after what she had just experienced.

"I think it would be best that you stay hidden for a while after all. It was foolish of me to assume that this Maarani was the only being interfering with your mind." After lighting the last candle, she knelt down in front of her apprentice, reaching both hands out to take the trembling ones before her. "Visas Marr was the last person alive who knew the full extent of Darth Nihilus' power, which would make Sereti the next best source of information on stopping that monster from harming you."

"What about my brothers and sisters? I have support here. If they experienced the visions as I did, they wouldn't know how to react at all. We have to help them first."

Much to her surprise, Lasidia attempted to soothe her fears with whispers in Miralukaese, speaking of massacres and genocide and great floods of pain and torment. She was the only one in the galaxy who found such things to be relieving.

"We will save all of you by destroying the devourer at his source. No operations, no Jedi intervention. Your kindred will be safe again. Then, we destroy Maarani." She gently twisted Kiarna's hands around so her palms were up, pulling the gloves off after to touch her pale skin. "I cannot imagine the torment your mind must be going through. Blinding light, and utter darkness. No-one in the galaxy could endure such opposing forces at the same time. Except you, my apprentice."

"I'm already blind though…" Kiarna shook her head. "I'm starting to pick up Maarani's sarcasm. Please, stop me if I start fondling my breasts or express a desire to dance provocatively." She shook her head again, this time more vigorously. "Did she break our mental link to form one with me? I am starting to think this may be worse than seeing a dead Sith Lord from my nightmares."

Lasidia's forced smile faded away as she gripped her hands again, leaning a little closer to her mask as if peering through to the mind behind it. "It may be far more than that. I have a plan to learn more, but keeping your mind from being consumed must be the priority."

"That won't matter if there's nothing left to consume." She freed her hands from the grasp and retrieved her gloves, slowly pulling them back on. "Master, please let me go after her. Let me try and kill her before this goes too far. Before Nihilus tries to enter my mind again."

"Kiarna, you must trust in my judgement. Let me deal with her, focus on Nihilus." Her lips parted as she sensed the growing frustration from her apprentice. "Rak'Sakar can set up a secluded base for you to gather your kindred in, train them to resist the madness as you have. I need time to put my plan for locating the superweapon, and now dealing with Maarani into action. Will you give me that time?"

There was a long silence from Kiarna as she pondered the choices before her.

Two threats to her existence. As the Follower had put it, from the Lady of Balance and Lord of Hunger. She didn't know what lay ahead with the former, but the latter couldn't be clearer.

Logically, she had to fight the threat she understood first.

"I won't wait for too long. If Nihilus appears again, I'm going to Katarr to destroy him. Then I go for Maarani. Maybe I can't destroy her, but that is far from being unable to turn her to our side of the Force."

At that moment, Lasidia gripped onto Kiarna's shoulders very tightly, fear striking her face. "You tried that before, and she twisted your mind in retaliation. A second time and you may be lost to us, to me. To yourself. Destroy what remains of Nihilus if feel you can, but do not go after Maarani. I beg you."

"Tell me exactly why she is such a threat then. You've never met her, and yet you clearly know more about her than you've led me to believe."

For a brief moment, it had not been her mind forming the words. They had come from another, waiting down in the engine room of her ship.

Such a strong presence hadn't gone unnoticed by the Togruta, but she was in no position to try and stop it while mentally isolated from her apprentice. How many more would end up holding her poor mind hostage?

"Maarani is a natural empath, like her father and older brother. And like her mother and sister, she has the heart of a Sith. A Sith that will destroy everyone around her if provoked." She leaned in further still, her nose almost touching the surface of the mask. "Do not go after her. Let the Jedi drive her to suicide through their manipulating ways, trying to shape her into a weapon to wipe us out. But do not go after her, ever."


	14. Born to the Blue

"I'm sorry for being a complete pain in the ass."

"Well, I'm hardly innocent after jumping to the conclusion that 'ass' was all you had on your mind."

Maarani twisted onto her other side to look at Dana, rather than staring at the wall away from her. "We gonna keep talking about my non-existent sex life, or what?"

"Not being a pain lasted all of two seconds." She entered the room fully as Maarani sat up, hesitant to sit down on the bed beside her at first. "Koor warned me about trying to make small talk with you, but I'm going to try anyway. Anything you feel like getting off your chest? Jedi are always discreet."

The Twi'lek chewed on her tongue as she let her thoughts wander to any grievances remaining. Nothing really serious came to mind. Aside from her lingering issues with the starfighters, of which she had quite a few.

"Ever been around fighter squadron pilots, Dana?"

She shook her head, having spent little time around the military at all.

"Being related to a Force sensitive puts you on a special list to become a pilot. When I showed up, expecting to get assigned to ground training, they put me right at the top of that pilot list instead."

There was a notable amount of bitterness in her voice now. "I tried explaining that my sensitivity was gone, so I didn't deserve such 'special' treatment. They insisted and I ended up getting assigned to train with one of the top tier squadrons. Just imagine struggling to reach an average grade amongst ace pilots, who know you didn't earn your way up there."

All Dana could do initially was nod her head, trying to fully grasp the extent of her story. It finally explained why she was hardly broken up about their deaths. "I assume this is part of what caused your depression, amongst everything else. But even after all that, you still miss the military life?"

Maarani nodded, tugging her pillow over and clutching it up against her stomach. "It's really easy to forget emotional pain when you're tearing muscles in the gym, blowing starfighters into oblivion, and waiting for the next surprise drill to come. Masaka screwed all of that up for me, though I'm certain she couldn't care less."

Her arms tightened around the pillow further as she held back a cough. It had been caused by another bout of grief, again over her lost sister. "I screwed up back there as well. Elira died for nothing, because I couldn't hold a flipping lightsaber properly."

"Teegs, don't start beating yourself up over that again, please. We've gone through a grievance, now how about an aspiration?"

"What is it with the Jedi definition of smalltalk?"

Dana sighed as she waited for Maarani to actually give the question some thought, though soon elaborated on her point. "A key part of being a Jedi has always been an open mind. I'm trying to help you break down the walls you've put up over the years." That seemed to get through to her, as the Twi'lek settled into her pondering posture.

"Aspiration… I got a little annoyed at Utan for pre-judging what I'd do, but to be honest, I don't think I've really thought all that much about it." She looked to Dana with a growing smile, over her own concern more than anything. "The dream was joining everyone else in the Jedi Order. Guess I expected that whoever I became a padawan to would know what I'd be good at."

"Well, I'll make it simple then. Those who actually make it to becoming a padawan have two general choices. Full Jedi duties, like becoming a Consular or Knight for example, most members choose this. The other is taking on a profession that helps the Order. Carmen is a droid engineer, and I'm a behavioural psychologist."

"What a mouthful."

"Teegs."

Maarani tilted her head to either side as she did her best to not make further remarks. It really was a simple choice. And actually knowing that she would have one to begin with was already a big relief to hear. The issue still managed to circle back around, in that she didn't know what would really suit her best in the end.

"I'm not going to be 'encouraged' back into the pilot seat, am I? Training only does so much to alleviate something you don't enjoy all that much."

"I think the only thing they'll try to dissuade you from is anything that involves actively fighting Sith. So many Jedi have turned to the dark side while battling with it, and we can't ignore that there's been a precedent in your family. That doesn't mean you can't help in the effort to push them back at all though."

The level of bluntness was a refreshing change for the Twi'lek. Her lingering nature of whimsical sarcasm vanished in the face of actual honesty. As she came through the moment, her eyes became fixed in their gaze. "I think I'm done fighting. Maybe not knowing what to do next is just part of leaving the military, and something will come to me eventually?" She continued to consider the matter, eventually returning to the basic question. "The aspiration doesn't have to be a career, right?"

Dana shrugged at that, having brought it up as a suggestion alone. "It can be as simple as visiting a place, talking to someone, or whatever really. Getting to know you means it'll be a lot easier to assess how you're progressing. And I'm happy to help where I can."

With some more consideration, Maarani finally looked to the Jedi. There were a few things that had come to mind. "Visiting Felucia would be easy enough I guess. Always been fascinated by holo-images of those forests. Getting to meet Mission Vao would be another, though I bet she's sick of being asked about her adventures by now."

The smile spread to Dana at that, her dark lips parting as she pictured the meeting for herself. "She was more mature at fourteen than you are now at twenty four. I take it she's a personal hero."

"That obvious?" She shifted around some more, looking ready to stand back up, but not quite reaching the point of hoisting herself off the bed. "There aren't all that many Twi'leks who've faced down Sith, flown around the galaxy and done heroic stuff. It was nice to know there were real possibilities beyond dancing, slavery and whatever else my kind generally end up in. Aside from you guys of course."

She hesitated slightly at the last thought she had come to, reflecting on what Dana had said earlier. "You're sick of hearing me complain about being single I bet."

"I wouldn't say sick. Concerned about what looks like an obsession on the surface, and potentially a sign of dangerously deep loneliness beneath is more accurate."

"There's the psych talk." Both turned their heads as the sound of Cecile swearing in what sounded like Rodian echoed through the ship. "Sounds like she's the one who needs counselling."

"I can always try." As she got up to head to the cockpit, she glanced back with a further grin. "Don't listen to that crap about there being no 'trying'. The intent is just as important as the result. And yes, I'm dismissing one Jedi phrase of wisdom by quoting another." Leaving it at that, she looked back to the still cluttered hallway and picked her way through to Cecile's location.

Maarani twisted back onto her bed shortly after her departure, staring up at the metal ceiling as she toyed with the zipper of her jacket.

 _I'm already blind though…_

"Not again." She gripped the pillow and shoved it up around her head in a pointless attempt to stop the ethereal voice of Kiarna.

 _Please, stop me if I start fondling my breasts or express a desire to dance provocatively._

Her jaw dropped as she sat up in shock, the pillow falling away from her head. "That racist bitch."

* * *

"She called me a racist bitch."

Carudan raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to project one of your insults back at her? I expected another of your rants from the way you stormed up here."

Kiarna twisted her head to him as her arm lashed out, ready to grip around his throat. She wasn't quite ready to carry through with the threat. "Hijacking my mind to learn about someone who may have hijacked my mind was way out of line. But…"

"But you learned something from that, because I asked a question you were afraid to. Now we both have a better idea of how she linked your minds together." He folded his arms across his chest as she backed away again. Such satisfaction there was in seeing her remember that he held all the cards.

"When you invade my thoughts, I at least know that you're on my side for the time being. If she's able to pick up on what I'm thinking at any moment, through the mask's protection, then what am I supposed to do?"

"Continue being a racist bitch until she finds a way to block out any received thoughts. Or just stop thinking for a while. That shouldn't be too difficult for you."

"I have no eyes, and even I saw that one coming." She landed in the copilot seat and twisted it around, setting out the coordinates for their first destination. "I'm still wondering why you haven't left yet. Rescuing crazed Miraluka isn't what you came aboard for. Bellara doesn't have much choice as my apprentice."

Carudan glanced to her, for once without his usual smugness. "I've visited Katarr in my travels, before and after it was wiped out. It's one of the few places I could actually feel the Force. That makes it a danger as well." For a few moments, he was able to glimpse the memory of what Kiarna had seen earlier, while his observation of her mind had gone dark. Hunger that somehow managed to exceed his own.

"There's about forty that came to me for help, the rest are not my concern. Let's get started."

As they got underway, she settled back into her chair and focused on clearing her mind again. She had many things to do before ridding herself of corruption.

"I am afraid of Darth Nihilus."

Carudan glanced at her for a second before realizing what she was on about.

"I am angry at the way my mind has been twisted so readily."

Kiarna's hand drifted to her lightsaber, clutching around the cool metal as a source of calm.

"I hate Maarani. I want her to suffer."

* * *

It had been close to a week since the capture of that pilot. Every preparation had been made for the operation that would follow, and while the procedure had taken longer than expected, the final result was everything she could have hoped for.

"The amputation was successful. When you are ready, Lord, we can begin."

Lasidia nodded her head as she approached the operation table, watching the Togruta strapped down to it struggle against her bonds with what little strength remained.

She focused on the fresh stump where her left lekku had been located, circling the table to kneel down beside it. Nearly identical to her own stump, just as she had instructed, and slightly glistening with blood seeping through the cauterized flesh.

There was a loud gasp as she dragged her tongue up over the wound, saving the taste of the blood as she rose back up. Her hand settled down along the other Togruta's chin, stroking along the jawline. "You must hate me, revile me. No sane person would take joy in such a barbaric procedure, would they?"

A hiss was all she got in response.

"This is simply a message to the Republic, nothing personal I assure you. When this is all over, I'll even give it back to you myself." Lasidia trailed her hand down the pilot's neck to her shoulder. A shrapnel scar trailed along the inside of her collarbone. "Shrapnel, I take it. Must have hurt." With a twist of her hand, she brought out a concealed blade and pressed it flat against the scar.

"Lord Lasidia, if you wish to take a turn at surgery-"

The knife was lifted away with a slight nick. It began bleeding just a little, trickling down over her shoulder.

"Maybe later." After leaning in to take a long sniff, she licked her lips again and twisted her head to look at the pilot again. "What is it like, suddenly having your emotions snatched away? Or would you like to sit up instead, see how lopsided your head now feels."

"Liti!"

Lasidia's expression went dark. Her hand trailed back to the shoulder to extend a finger, which she began pressing against the cut. More blood flowed. "That was a very rude thing to say. Now I will have to kill the Jedi who come to rescue you. I was just about to thank you for showing us the way to our destination too."

She turned to the surgeon briefly, though not to speak in an audible tone.

 _Begin the sedation._

"Every member of my tribe will hunt you down for this!"

The faint smile returned to the Sith's face as she stood up, drawing her finger across the blood trail and lifting it to her lips. "It must be nice to belong to a tribe that still cares about you. A tribe that wasn't waiting for the opportunity to throw you to the sand and mutilate your body. Shame, really."

As the pilot's eyes began to close, she leaned in once more to whisper against her left montral. "Thank you for showing us the way to the Rakata."

Once she had passed out, Lasidia finally sighed and licked her finger clean of the blood. "To think I used to enjoy being savage. Kiarna certainly did not miss much there." She circled back to the next table, where she began removing the outer cloak draped around her form.

"She's learned the ways of torture well, if I do say so myself." Silent pulled his surgical mask down after cleaning the freshly opened wound up. The small pool of blood under the shoulder was soon wiped away.

By then, Lasidia was sitting up on the second table to free her mostly bare feet from the leather straps tied around them. "Make sure that she isn't too badly harmed in her preparatory torture. We want the Jedi to rescue a prisoner of war, not another version of myself." When done with the feet, she moved up to undoing her tunic. If any of them would experience a moment of awkwardness, it would be Silent.

"You'll be pleased to know that Masaka is becoming more receptive. I found a glass rod lying on the floor on my way over, and now she genuinely believes it's something valuable slipped into her pocket by the Jedi." He wheeled over a smaller side table, on which the severed lekku was laid out. Two more tables waited nearby for the later stages of surgery.

"I trust you to handle her if she breaks out. Do not let let Rak'Sakar tell you otherwise." She took a deep breath as she lifted her legs up and laid back onto the cold metal surface. The skin stretched across her shoulder blades felt icy, made slightly worse as she settled her arms across her stomach. "When this is done, what will I have to do to get it off?"

"I'm placing an organic seam between the two cuts. You simply have to will it to fall off, and the seam will break. Sokoli Zatu will be programmed to specifically avoid such an impulse."

Lasidia nodded as best she could, her head bound down to the table by her back lekku, now pressed underneath her body. It would be months before she was herself again.

"Sokoli Zatu… To think a coward who ran away thirty five years ago will be seen as a hero by them. Fools."

The moment she had trained months for finally arrived.

Every memory and thought tied to Mikan Sol sank into the depths of her mind, locked away for the right time to reemerge. While her face, montrals and lekku were modified to resemble Sokoli as closely as possible, dark powers and technology worked together to recreate the identity of the long lost Jedi.

Their downfall was closing in.

* * *

 _He opened my mind in more ways than one. Even now, I feel the cold chill of air sweeping over my emptied eye sockets._

 _I watched my world burn. I watched as the fires around me extinguished themselves in his presence. I watched the death of the Force unfold before me…_

"Sereti, has something happened?"

She shook her head. Her trembling hand reached for Carla's beside her. When it settled, she did her best to calm down from the haunting memory. "It is what lies ahead of us that has me worried. She faced Nihilus in a way I never could. I wish I knew for certain that I had the strength to fight him for myself." They were already leaving Coruscant's orbit for Katarr. She had long dreaded the inevitable day she would venture there, but there was no other choice about it. It was her duty to investigate the disturbance at its source.

A little while after they entered hyperspace, she left her chair and paced the small compartment they were seated in. The doorway to the cockpit was sealed, giving them a few minutes of complete privacy.

"I do not like how deep the deception has become. It is beginning to feel like all the lies are starting to catch up with us now. Tegama may be the worst of them, but others will hurt a lot more. If we lose the Mandalorians now…" She pressed her arm against one of the bulkheads to rest her forehead on it comfortably. It was hard to find peace when they were potentially hurtling towards a new bloodbath. "When Lasidia and her forces are gone, I might just step down from the Council."

"You would be sorely missed if that were to occur." Carla also left her seat, brushing a strand of white hair out of the way as she took hold of Sereti's shoulder. "We certainly had our differences in the past, but we have always persevered through the trials set before us, as friends and leaders. Whatever happens, the Jedi would not have come so far without your guidance."

"Let us hope that is enough, then."

* * *

The sight of snow made Maarani furrow her brow. Ryloth was anything but cold, and even Coruscant had been slightly cooler than what she was comfortable with. It didn't get any better as they approached the concealed landing bay. It gave barely more clearance than the shipyard they had obtained the _Distant Star_ from, and looked very desolate.

By the time they touched down in the bay, two women in white had appeared at the top of the ramp upward. One was quite old, probably Atris. She had to keep herself from making the remark out loud and further upsetting Dana.

"You will actually try being respectful this time, right?"

"I haven't said anything!" Maarani left her seat to kick through the junk piles that had spread over the corridor behind them, Cecile was conveniently making her way over to the hatch by then, allowing her to catch one of the droid's arms. "CC, wait up a second. Need to check that it's okay to let you out and around first. You understand right?"

"Oh, well, I suppose you are right Mistre... Maarani."

Maarani tapped her shoulder as she moved past to lower the ramp down. The mechanisms crunched against each other for a few seconds before it dropped down rather violently. "Could you take a look at that in the meantime? I don't like the idea of that happening while we're in hyperspace."

As the Twi'lek descended from the ship, Cecile began making her way over to the hatch controls when Dana caught her arm as well. "Mistress Maarani asked me to look into why the ramp malfunctioned."

"Sounds like she's warming up now. Anything happen since our talk?"

"No, not really. I think I will need time before I even begin to grasp how Mistress Maarani works. She is unlike everything I have come to expect from Twi'lek." Her eyes flickered briefly, still fixated on Dana. "I don't think she likes convulsing her body in such-"

"Cecile, keep the inappropriate stuff locked away, remember? Have fun with fixing this junk." She jumped down the short clearance between the ship and the landing bay floor to hurry over to Maarani's side. Atris hadn't moved from the top of the ramp fortunately, and her Twi'lek friend wasn't in any particular hurry. She was already making her distaste for the cold very clear.

A quick nod to Atris saved her from any initial embarrassment that was potentially about to erupt. "Teegs, this is Master Atris, possibly the only living Jedi left from Revan's era, the master I trained with for two years for becoming emotionally stable, and one of the most knowledgeable people in the ways of the Force."

"Master Dana is also an exaggerator who has a friendly thought for everyone she meets, no matter what state they are in." Atris smiled just a little as she extended her hand out to greet Maarani, who was looking back at her with every bit of youthful curiosity. She certainly didn't have the look of someone dead inside, cut off from the universe around her. Not like Surik at all.

Maarani took the extended hand as she was apparently expected to, giving it a very light shake out of concern for her apparent condition. "Well, I won't disagree with that when she says I'm immature and a bad listener."

"I never said bad listener."

Atris rolled her eyes a little as she turned back to lead them into the complex. "Not to sound old, but when I was on the Council, five was pushing it, ten was an absolute cut off. Twenty four with a teenager's mentality is not my area of expertise."

"Why does everyone bring that up the moment they meet me? Do I just have a note on my forehead that says 'I'm a juvenile who flew starfighters and got bashed about by two Sith, please patronize me'?" The look Maarani got from Atris for that said enough. Protesting was only further proof in their eyes, as always.

"Kindly stop talking until I ask you a question." For Atris at least, it was noticeably more pleasant without the Twi'lek's scratchy voice ringing in her ears as they continued on through the small corridors. Upon reaching the open room at last, she nodded to Shamara and approached the edge of the gaping drop.

Maarani could very faintly hear the sound of water rushing below, and was about to ask about just that when she remembered being told to effectively shut up. Concentrating on the sound almost distracted her from Atris' actually asking questions at last.

"I need to know who I am training before I can properly form a daily routine. We can start with the name, and what you did previously in addition to being a pilot."

After swallowing, the Twi'lek straightened up a bit as she settled into her militaristic mindset. "Tegama'Arani, Starfighter pilot second class. I leered at female mechanics and shot down Imperial bombers alongside my now dead squad." Noting the bemusement, she relaxed herself a little more to loosen the smartass edge. "Dana calls me Teegs, I prefer Maarani."

Atris felt her pulse slow down drastically.

 _I gave her strict orders to avoid Maarani…_

She found herself swallowing as well, though it was very subtle. There had been a moment of hesitation upon seeing a Twi'lek step down out of the ship, but she had dismissed it as a coincidence. It had gone far beyond the realm of coincidence now.

Before her silence dragged on, she glanced at the blaster pistol hanging from her hip and motioned to it. "Have you used that much in your time, Tegama?"

"Sometimes, when I had to. Didn't do much when Kiarna came after me." Maarani pulled it off the buckle and held it out to Atris, assuming she wanted to inspect it for whatever reason. "It's gotten me out of some bad situations, so I-"

Right before her eyes, it was snatched out of her hand and tossed into the abyss to her left. She was rather slow to actually react, slightly leaning out over the dark fall to see where it had landed. "I had that pistol for eight years."

"Blasters are not the weapons of a Jedi. If you want to become one, then you can start by not playing with those crude things anymore."

Maarani glanced at Atris with no shortage of annoyance to be had for her rude action. "My lightsaber doesn't work, and I'm going to need something in the meantime to defend Dana. So if you'll excuse me…"

Both Dana and Atris watched in silence as the Twi'lek pulled her jacket off and dived off into the water deep below.

The former watched her descent for a while longer, still stunned by the reaction. "There is still water down there, right?" To her great relief, a loud splash echoed back up through the chamber, followed by several gasps and Twi'lek profanity about the cold.

"She really is Rilana's other daughter, then." As the cursing and splashing continued, she reached her hand out to guide Dana away from the edge just a little further. "Tell me what's really going on with her. You more than anyone know that Sereti only sends very specific cases my way."

Dana nodded as she briefly thought back to her own arrival. Prior to that were memories she didn't like reliving. "She's made contact with two Sith in the past month. Masaka left her to die, and Kiarna let her go for some unknown reason. Teegs claims that she lost her sensitivity, despite having a strong empathic presence she's not aware of, and the fact that none of her story doesn't hold up to scrutiny in the least. Sereti and the others want answers, and like it or not you're the closest to an expert on this matter. Satisfactory?"

A quick nod came in response from Atris. "It's nice to see you have maintained your usual level of succinctness." The hand gripping her came trembled a little as she again found herself thinking back to Lasidia's brief visit. She needed another distraction. "I have studied that Sith holocron you brought by at length. From what I can tell it is one of three, though I believe the knowledge it contained was not Sith in origin."

"What else could it be then? The Sith wouldn't store Jedi knowledge."

"The inscriptions refer to the Rakata, which only confirms that Darth Lasidia is seeking out another of their devices. I cannot fathom what bending the Force to create extreme speed could do in a superweapon though, since it would be useless beyond a solar system." She clasped at her forehead as the dark presence passed from her mind again. To anyone else aside from present company, it would appear to be a headache.

"Teegs has seen for herself just how powerful that technique is for an individual. If it is one of three though, then we might have a chance at intercepting the other two first." Dana looked back to the abyss as she heard Maarani calling out from below, having found her pistol somehow. "I think we'll all be glad when this wild behaviour stops. Thanks for at least considering this in the meantime."

"Do not thank me yet. A lot changes in twenty five years, like my tolerance. That said…" She approached the edge of the abyss again, trying to peer down into the darkness to locate Maarani. "We will try our best. If at least one of those poor children actually makes it into the Order, that will be something."

Dana pointed out Maarani on the ladder far below, dripping wet and clearly shivering. The blaster pistol was stuffed down the front of her pants. "I think she's got the right attitude for a bodyguard after all. Her idea for a cover story." She leaned over to the discarded jacket and draped it over her arm, watching the ascent a little longer. "I'll ask Cecile to bring her other clothes up from the ship. Word of warning, she is vehemently against any clothing that doesn't cover up well."

"I wasn't planning on Echani training for her anyway. Twi'lek may also vastly prefer light attire, but they do not meet the precision required." As said Twi'lek began to reach the top, she gripped Dana's arm momentarily before going on her way to the Council room. "You know the way to the rooms."

The solemn expression faded back to her more friendly look as she approached the top of the ladder. Maarani was still muttering to herself in her native language, and shivering heavily by the look of it. "Want your jacket now Teegs?"

Maarani grabbed it and pressed it over her chest, keeping the inside facing away from her drenched self. "You know, you could've done some sort of Force thing to help me out there. Not like I mind the freezing cold water and all that." She wandered past for a few steps before realizing she was quite lost in the place.

"Follow me, your room is the one that feels like it has three desert suns blasting inside." She led the way back down as she had so often done during her own years there, contacting Cecile as they walked with the request. She wasn't far behind them by the time they reached the room itself.

As described, it was very warm. So much so that Maarani actually felt faint wafts of steam rising off her clothing right after entering. The deep chill that had left her lekku feeling numb was fading back to her relief. "I miss this temperature." The prodding of her arm by Cecile prompted her to look at the clothing brought up to her. "Thanks, if you two can give me a few."

"Are you sure you don't need my help to change, Mistress? It's nothing I haven't seen before."

"CC, give me the clothes and please don't ever bring that up again." Once they were in hand, she pushed the door shut and finally set about freeing herself from the freezing mess.

A few private moments to ponder what Dana had meant by her empathic presence...


	15. The Massacre

Eight years ago...

Maintaining a pebble garden in a temple dedicated to training young Jedi was more of an hourly task than a daily one. For however much they taught discipline and respect, Rilana always found stones out of place whenever she passed by the swirling blue arrangement. The small dents and marks on the wall across from the pebble garden told all too well what the stones were being used for. As if the actual training stones across the temple grounds weren't satisfactory enough for hurling at designated targets.

Her annoyed sigh drew the attention of another Twi'lek passing by, who glanced at the misaligned stones and immediately came to the same conclusion. "You could always glue them down Rilana."

"As I've said several times Yuthura, the patterns must be free to change as needed." She waved her blue-green hand over the garden, causing the swirled pattern to gradually transform into a series of waves, after a large amount of clacking from the pebbles.

"Yes, but the fact of the matter is that children are going to change the garden according to their needs no matter what we do." Yuthura was cautious as she sat down to avoid disturbing the garden right after the new arrangement. It certainly looked interesting, but if there was any deeper meaning to the pattern it eluded her. "I suppose this is where you explain what part of the emotional spectrum is demonstrated here. Or is it meant to be an ocean?"

Rilana tilted her head at the pattern in a moment of contemplation. "It represents…" No answer came to mind, so she glanced to her purple friend with the best smile she could form. "Whatever you want it to represent." The expected light nudge to her side came. Terrible as the answer was, it did save both of them from one of her infamous theories.

"Let's assume it means individuality, even though that's not remotely close to the impression I got." A soft chuckle followed up as she glanced across to the array of shrubbery growing just in front of the wall. Native plants from their homeworld, brought there by Masadar the year before.

It was a sudden reminder for her original purpose. "Nearly forgot, I needed to speak with your husband. He wasn't at the meditation hall when I checked."

"He mentioned the tranquility pool actually. Might I ask what the matter is?"

Yuthura didn't make eye contact at first, instead looking over the temple at the mountain ridge beyond. There was a concern weighing on her mind that she had been hesitant to discuss with anyone, Rilana especially. At the same time, she needed to know. "I spoke with the Council just an hour ago. They've sensed a dark disturbance in the galaxy."

"The Sith have returned then." Rilana's head tilted forward into her hand. Now more than ever she didn't feel ready to face her past. Finding inner peace had taken so long, and now it was in great danger of being lost to her again. Already, fear for her children was starting to grow.

Someone began to approach from the main temple building, prompting Rilana out of her despaired look for the moment. "Who else needs to know first?"

"Just the masters for now. We need to be certain that panic does not-" Yuthura twisted her head around as a hand took hold of her shoulder. It was Master Dukon fortunately, and it seemed many of the other leaders weren't far behind.

"You left the communication room in a hurry, and we assumed the news from the Council was not good."

"Essentially yes." She stood back up and gestured her head towards the meeting hall. "Gather the other Masters there once the padawans and initiates are in their rooms. We can organize the Knights after the meeting." As the others went about that, she returned to Rilana who was about to go off as well. "I'll make sure that Kadano and Masaka are safe, just find your husband."

Rilana nodded, about to continue on to the inner courtyard when she stopped again. There was something being held back from her. "What does the Council want my husband alone to know?"

Again, Yuthura had to glance away. Visas had been very clear in her instructions, foremost of which was not telling Rilana anything. "After the meeting I'll explain, to both of you. One issue at a time." This time she glared back at her, which seemed to be enough to get her point across.

Word had gotten around the entire complex by the time she reached the dormitory. Many of the older Jedi were trying to guide their younger companions through the sprawling building, for once paying very little attention to her presence. Normally she was met with almost scared looks from anyone intimidated by her heavy tattooing.

"Master Ban! Master Ban!"

She was nearly knocked flat on her face by Kadano, who was somehow taller than her despite being over forty years younger. And far too eager to help her back up from stumbling to her knee. When she eventually shooed him off enough to stand back up on her own, she took a few seconds to calm herself before getting upset at him. "This is a precautionary exercise, not a crisis. Now, what's the issue, aside from said exercise?"

"Master Mira said something about uncovering unauthorized transmissions beamed deep into space that-"

"Someone's giving away our location?"

Kadano nodded, swallowing back the rest of his rambled recollection of what he had been told in the space of a minute.

By then Yuthura had taken hold of his shoulders, and was now locked in a shocked expression with no sign of letting him go. A horrific situation was beginning to unfold in her mind.

"Why is that so important? There's no-one to come after us."

Yuthura forced her gaze back to the young Twi'lek's as she finally released his shoulders. "Stay in your room until your parents come for you." Even as she slipped past to continue on to Masaka's room, it was all too clear that his fears had only been heightened like her own. Of course he didn't appreciate the full scope of the danger they were being faced with.

To her surprise, Masaka was already in her room, the door slightly ajar. Just before forcing it open, she could hear the young girl carrying out a one-sided conversation. The unauthorized transmission.

"Masaka! Cut it off now!" Upon actually bursting into the room, she found her cross-legged on the bed with a holocommunicator in her lap. The image itself cut off before she could make out who it was, but for the moment it didn't matter. "Why didn't you ask any of us for permission to open up a comm channel?"

"I… I was just going to be a few minutes…" She began tugging at her left lekku, her other hand curling around the communicator as Yuthura approached slowly. "It's been months since I was home. Teegs misses me y'know. Just wanted a few minutes."

The lie was all too obvious to the older Twi'lek, however innocent she appeared to be. "Masaka, this is not the time for fibs. I need to know who or wherever you were talking to is at this moment."

A dark look began to cross her face, pushing away the false sorrow and defensive expressions. The hand holding onto her lekku began drifting towards the lightsaber by her side. "My chains are broken. The Force will free me."

Yuthura had her thrown up against the wall before her fingertips even touched the lightsaber. Having to use the Force to restrain a child, especially Rilana's youngest, cut very deep into the pure nature she had worked very hard to achieve. And it was going to get far worse very soon.

"Sith are self-destructive. Don't fall for their lies-"

The outer wall blasted her back into the hallway as it was struck by a thundering blast. Screams and cries hummed in the background behind a loud ringing in her ears. The itch of trickling blood running down from her head and lekku led to burning across her raw skin.

Horrid as the thought was, Masaka being crushed into Twi'lek soup seemed almost fitting for condemning the odd thousand young Jedi there to death.

* * *

Masadar had been kneeling just in front of the square pool with several padawans when the strikes landed, waking from meditation to his wife calling for him. It turned to a warning as they both noticed a glow turning the tranquility pool bright red.

One of the bricks from the perimeter wall behind them had glanced the left ridge on his forehead, evident by the fact that it now felt twice as large and was quite painful to touch. More bricks were weighing down on his lower back and legs, easily pushed aside with a wave of his hand.

The first thing he could see properly was Rilana. Something had gashed her arm, but she was otherwise able to walk about and help the others. His next priority became those kneeling right behind him at the moment of impact. Many were buried under rubble, and unable to move even after it was cleared away. A human boy towards the back had been killed outright.

Past his teal lekku, he could see ships descending towards their location. Many of them were transports, all bearing the mark of the Sith.

Everything around him gravitated back towards Rilana. All of the horrific stories he had given consolation over as they came back to torment her. Every time they had sat down with the children to explain why the dark Force was so dangerous and terrifying. He could see those painful memories on her face as she too stared up at their approaching doom.

By some coincidence, they looked back to each other at the same time. Both knew what the other was thinking. What they had to do, for the sake of their own children as well as all the others under their care. Both would give their lives for that cause, even if it meant leaving four orphans behind.

He returned to getting the padawans out from the scattered debris, doing his best to carry them to the nearest secure building at speed.

Rilana bolted for her own quarters when the opportunity arose. Her Jedi lightsaber never left her side, but there was another that she would have need of very soon. The room itself had escaped the bombardment, leaving little in the way of the box she kept under the bed.

Just lifting the lid released a cold feeling over her. The black metal of her Sith lightsaber gleaming in the minimal light. She could feel the crystal within calling to the darker parts of her mind, just as Darth Revan had all those years ago.

A stinging pain ran through her fingertips as they clasped around the handle. The emotional charge, drawing on the need to protect her children, there on the planet and back on Ryloth.

The others would object. But maintaining purity meant nothing if all they had worked for would be wiped out anyway.

All Jedi Masters except Mira, Masadar and Yuthura had gathered in front of the main gates when she returned. Her husband was obviously doing his best to maintain order amongst the younger Jedi. There was no time left to speculate on where the others were, as the first transports had already landed not far beyond the walls.

"Form up, weapons ready! Do not hold back against these Sith, as they will not hesitate to stab you in the back!" She could see some heads turn as she ignited her red lightsaber, lifting it above and behind her head, the blue held out in front of her at a right angle to it. None openly remarked or questioned it.

Blaster fire began to strike the solid gates. It lasted mere seconds, dying back down into tense silence.

"Hold steady!"

Over the wall, all nine of them could hear the sound of a marching army. A mix of foot soldiers and droids. Some had to regrip their lightsabers as new realization dawned. They were being goaded into killing virtually helpless soldiers first.

It had also occurred to Rilana, who looked to either side quickly. "Target droids first, disabling people second. When the actual Sith show up, they become the priority." Her own hands were beginning to shake a little. The attack so far had been unusual for Sith, geared heavily towards intimidation and unrest. Whoever led them now was very different from Revan and Nihilus in strategy.

The gates were blown open by an otherwise mild explosion, allowing a new surge of blaster fire to pour through into the courtyard. Every single lightsaber twisted around to deflect the blasts back into the haze.

A volley flew over their heads from the direction of the tranquility pool. HK droids were already clambering through the breached wall.

"Sagon! Get your Knights over there! And watch out for other holes!"

At the gates, the first Imperial troops and droids began to appear through the dust haze, fanning to either side and using the plants as visual cover. The constant gunfire kept the defending Jedi too distracted to push them back, allowing them to slowly gain a foothold inside the temple grounds.

Further through the haze, a figure began to emerge between the two lines of troops, a purple lightsaber hanging from the left hand. As it drew closer, a red handprint at head level slowly became visible. The new Sith leader.

"Cease fire!"

Every droid and soldier obeyed immediately, allowing the eight Jedi a tense moment to breathe. All of them were watching as the Sith approached the threshold of the courtyard, while remaining attentive to other danger around them. The silence had spread over to Sagon and his group as well.

When she did finally emerge, Kiarna tilted her head a little as a grin formed underneath her mask. "This is the best the Jedi Order has to offer?" She took another step forward, deactivating her lightsaber for the moment. "We were summoned by a Twi'lek girl who wished to join us. Naturally we couldn't just knock on the door and ask for her to be handed over."

Rilana's mouth went very dry. There weren't many Twi'lek girls in training there. "Is that why you bombed us? Just to retrieve a traitor in our midst?"

"Humourous, Rilana. My master tells me you are a traitor to us, but you are of lesser concern. We want the girl named Masaka, and the woman named Yuthura out here. Now!"

All eight Jedi tightened the grip on their lightsabers again, tilting them towards the Sith in a threatening manner. Rilana's red blade began to grow warmer in her hand as the weight of her daughter's betrayal began to set in. There was no other way the Sith would know her name.

"We do not take demands from Sith. Especially not the pawns of cowards who dare not show themselves to us!"

Kiarna placed a hand on her hip as she kept her head focused on Rilana, maintaining the perception that she was actually looking at her. "You are making a very bad mistake asking for my master, old woman. I laugh at suffering. She revels in it. Now, you have one last chance to hand them over before-"

A rocket shot past the Jedi line directly at her head. In the momentary time to react, she brought her arms back out of the way and allowed it to detonate on the surface of her mask. For a fraction of a second, it projected an energy field around itself and her upper body, absorbing the brunt of the explosion. The handprint itself glowed a very bright red for all to see as she directed her attention to the attacker.

"Worth a shot." Mira bolted forward, leaping off the top of the stairs and drawing her lightsaber. It crashed against the purple blade on impact, stopping short of the glowing mask. The light it cast on her hair gave it an even more fiery look. "I've fought Sith bitches before. You're nothing compared to Traya."

"Is that so?" Kiarna stepped back and twisted her lightsaber around to force Mira's away from her body. Now with space between them, she took the opportunity to examine the micro-rocket launcher on her wrist. That would be her target. "Leave Mira for me, kill the rest."

Rilana motioned for the others to fall back as the blaster fire resumed, unable to tear her eyes away from the duel unfolding before them. She didn't doubt Mira's confidence as a fighter by any stretch, but she was fighting against someone with access to powers they had never seen before.

Mira herself was quickly finding her initial judgement to be somewhat misplaced. With every blocked blow, she could feel a jolt of rage coming from the Sith. Traya's anger had always been restrained, focused down into her power without letting it out altogether. The woman she was fighting had a raw savageness to her nature. Every one of her attacks was accompanied by a bloodthirsty cry.

Worse, she was just the apprentice.

A dozen Sith adepts leapt over the walls to attack Rilana and the others in the meantime, their faces also concealed with tight black wrappings. Unlike their leader, they struck with silent precision, pairing up to single out Jedi from amongst the others as they moved back towards the main temple building.

Two more Sith came from the direction of the dormitory, carrying a badly injured Masaka between them right towards where Kiarna was continuing to fight.

It caught Rilana off guard as she moved to strike down one of the attackers. Whatever she had done, seeing her dragged towards her death was too much. Both of her blades came down on the nearest Sith, splitting him into several pieces as she pushed past to rescue her daughter. The warnings of her fellow Jedi followed right on her heels.

"Let go of her!"

Kiarna's grin returned as events were set in motion. Mira was momentarily distracted, giving her the opportunity to swipe her blade around and hurl her up against the nearest wall. On cue, the two Sith dragging Masaka dropped to the ground right before Rilana's lightsaber came for their heads, allowing her excessive swing to twist her body around to the right. An opportunity was created for Kiarna to swing her own lightsaber across the Twi'lek's face, carving a scorched channel from eye to eye.

The cry of horrific pain rocked through the entire courtyard as she dropped to the ground, her trembling hands rushing up to feel where her eyes had been. A further distraction for the other Jedi that the attacking Sith swiftly took advantage of.

"I suppose this is why Jedi don't have children. They can't bring themselves to dispose of the rotten ones." She knelt down in front of her huddled form, reaching her right hand out and taking hold of her chin. "Funny, isn't it? I'm probably a third your age, and yet I know how to wield a lightsaber better than you do."

From out of the bushes to her left, she could see Mira leaping right for, lightsaber drawn again in an attempt to kill her. This time she chose not to react, allowing her master to deal with the situation instead.

Right before her green blade divided the leading Sith in two, Mira felt herself hurtled across the courtyard towards a towering figure cloaked in black. Before she could even attempt a swing, her neck landed right into a terrifying maw of sharp teeth.

Her vision blurred, Masaka could only see Mira drop to the ground as she clutched at her neck, red quickly spreading over her hand before she ceased to move.

The other Jedi were soon shoved over into a line beside Rilana and forced to kneel. Another pair of Sith arrived shortly after, this time with Yuthura between them. Unlike Masaka, she was struggling wildly against her captors, and growing increasingly distressed by the sights before her. She was eventually knelt down away from the line with a clear view of the carnage so far.

Lasidia finally advanced towards Rilana, wiping her mouth clean of Mira's blood as she drew close. "I did not want events to go this way, you should know. But, I simply could not allow the Jedi to breed a new army to hunt us down, could I? You should be grateful your daughter saw the true nature of why she came to be. To be used as cannon fodder against us."

She turned around to Yuthura, nodding to Kiarna standing by her side. "Yuthura, is this where you saw the Jedi in thirty years from when you followed Revan back to Dantooine? Kneeling at my feet in pain, when we could have simply forged a truce to stay away from each other." The twisted look of disgust that followed brought a faint smile to her beneath the darkness of her hood.

"Sith do not forge truces. They kill and destroy everyone else, then each other. Sooner or later you will destroy yourselves anyway. Who you are, what you planned to do, it does not matter in the end." A trail of saliva and blood dripped from her mouth, stopped from touching the ground by the purple lightsaber of her captor. The sizzling stench that came back up only made her sickness worse.

"They already lost, Yuthura. We've won anyway."

Lasidia's gaze returned to Rilana, who had lifted her head back up in defiance. "Confident words for Twi'lek scum."

"Twi'lek scum will destroy the Sith for good. You won't even see it coming, you murderous bitch." A trembling laugh grew as she felt her body growing numb. It was just loud enough to disguise the sound of her lightsaber crawling along the pavement behind her. Whoever else was trying to grab it needed every bit of help they could get.

Rather than striking her for the insult, Lasidia beckoned for Masaka to be brought over. "Let me guess, one of your two sons is destined to destroy me. Will they still be able to do that when their heads roll across the ground?" She raised her hand up towards Rilana's head, very slowly reaching into her mind through the Force.

Rilana twitched her head as she felt the presence, trembling a little more as every last bit of her defiance went into resisting. "Schutta."

Lasidia's own hand began to shake as the memory she was looking for began to surface. Something buried very deep down, further than the memories of her time among the Sith even. Another girl, one who could…

"Lasidia, and Kiarna. Two perfect psychopaths, a Togruta and-"

Rilana's head rolled to the ground behind her before she could finish the sentence. From inside the hood, a deep snarl began to build. Rage at being so easily deceived by a Twi'lek into letting out her own secrets.

The Jedi next to her decapitated corpse flinched, his last move before Lasidia's lightsaber tore through his upper torso.

Her angry roar startled many of the troops still in the courtyard as she swung wildly, killing each of the Jedi in succession until the last fell to the ground.

Even while being dragged back through the gates, Masaka's mouth was gaping at the sight she had witnessed, torn between horror at the violence, and satisfaction at seeing the arrogance and lies finally brought to an end.

Yuthura was forced to watch the bloodbath, her eyes kept open by Kiarna's gloved fingers. Every single blow drove the shock of Rilana's decapitation deeper into her soul. Not at all dissimilar to things she had done on Korriban to failed initiates, and paid dearly for in guilt.

"Bring every Twi'lek out here! Kill the rest on sight! Kiarna, if you would give me Rilana's lightsaber, and deal with this traitor…"

The hand gripping her face lifted away, allowing it to hang forward in defeat. Unlike the others however, the last thing she felt was a hard blow to the back of her head, rather than an incinerating blade severing her neck.

* * *

They had seen the carnage from orbit. Black craters dotted around the complex.

On the aerial survey, they saw countless bodies. Blood had seeped over a great amount of the paved pathways outside. In the middle of the courtyard lay six of the Jedi Masters. Further towards the temple, a pile of Twi'lek bodies had been gathered.

It was somehow even worse on the ground itself. Scorch marks had coated the once white walls in char. Imperial bodies and destroyed droids littered the approach to the wrecked gates. Just inside lay Mira, a large pool of blood centred around her neck.

Visas nearly dropped to her knees as her stomach churned, held up by Sereti's quick arm guiding her back away from the carnage.

The impact was less visible in Brianna's composure, but it was just as deep. She made it as far as the gateway itself before having to lean against the wall for support.

Merena had elected to stay in the ship upon seeing the Twi'lek corpses, leaving Utan and Torbut to continue on through the ruined complex. Neither of them spoke for a long while, afraid to break the heavy silence.

Both circled around the Twi'leks to reach the temple entrance. Yuthura was sitting in the doorway, her face buried deep into her arms.

To avoid startling them, she lifted her hand before speaking up. "Masaka brought them here. Lasidia, their leader, may know about Tegama's power. Ryloth needs to be warned." She lifted her head up a little, glancing at the two as Torbut reached out to offer consolation. The tears had stopped over an hour ago, but the prickling around her eyes remained.

"Yuthura…" Torbut swallowed, looking to Utan for anything he could possibly say at that moment. He too was lost for words, bringing the focus back to the bloodshot eyes in front of him. "We have a ship ready to take you anywhere you need to go. Nothing will be asked of you."

Her hands shot out, grabbing onto his coat and pulling him closer to her fierce eyes. For a brief moment, there was a flicker of red inside her purple irises. "Don't bring Tegama into this. You don't tell her anything about what we did to her, or even bring her to Coruscant. The Sith will know if we make contact."

"Alright, I'll make sure Merena knows. But what if she comes to us on her own?"

A shuddering breath passed through her lips. In her mind, the decisions had already been made. "Then we tell her that she was experimented on, by us, and that the Sith killed her family because of it. Now who will break that news to her face?" The anger was brief, and she allowed it to pass as soon as it became apparent to her.

It was a while before she finally felt ready to leave. By then, more Jedi and Republic aid had arrived, working quickly to secure the walls and gate before night fell.

Her walk back to the ship was silent. Everyone could clearly see that the last thing she needed was words of sympathy. Nothing could come remotely close to taking away the anguish experienced within.

Worst of all was knowing that it could have been prevented if they were just a little more diligent in monitoring communicator activity.

* * *

For the past two weeks, Elira had constantly debated if trying to talk to Yuthura would be in any way beneficial. A two day recall had saved her life, and left a feeling of guilt that she had failed to guide her padawan.

She still hadn't truly decided when she approached the Twi'lek in the garden area, finding her way by the bright moonlight above. Once there, it was near impossible to bring herself to back out and leave.

Yuthura had been aware of her presence for much longer, finally acknowledging it when she drew closer. "If you are here to convince me not to leave, save your breath. I cannot stay here any longer."

"You're going to need someone to continue in your place then, and I don't mean on the Council." Elira slowly sat down beside her, staring up at the few stars visible to them. "Tegama doesn't remember you, but she will know of me. I can get her started on the right track when she does show up, explain the truth of this mess in small steps."

"And if she does not come after all?"

Elira brought her head back down, lips tightened while giving further thought to the matter. "Sooner or later Masaka will be brought out of hiding amongst the Sith. Tegama may just look past being ignored to bring her back." Somehow she found herself laughing at such a far-fetched situation actually occurring. Then again, any important sounding goal would probably be enough.

"I suppose it matters little to me at this point." Yuthura reached to her left side and retrieved the lightsaber clipped there, resting it across her lap. "I switched Rilana's for Masaka's before it was taken. If Tegama needs something to pursue, tell her she can come looking for it. Might take up a year or two of her time."

A cold silence settled as she stared at the lightsaber in deeper thought. Rilana's last act had been to identify their new enemy, at the risk of everything else. However important that information would prove to be, neither of them would be around to see it put to use.

Her holocommunicator beeped once, indicating that her ship was ready for departure. "Here's hoping the Force finds balance at last. Good luck to you Elira."

It was the last time she would speak to another Jedi in a very long time, if ever. The few that had been working on her ship had left by the time she arrived at the hangar. She had plenty of supplies, charts of the outer sectors, and a sizeable amount of copied archives to study in her isolation.

The plan she had formulated would continue in her absence.


	16. Respite, Retreat

Before, Jayden often felt a sense of comfort when in the walls of her family home. Marshland and dense trees all around, fog coating the sky beyond. Like most places in that area of Mires, it was just isolated enough from others to make it seem as if they lived solitary lives.

For the past two weeks however, it had been far from a deception for her. Years of missions and fighting for both the Jedi and the Mandalorians had gone her way, no matter what the unexpected threw at her. That feeling of success had been completely shattered, and it wasn't just because of the cold feeling she continued to experience at the end of her thigh.

Whatever had driven her to believe the leg was a near-perfect replacement before was gone. It was metal and lies that she walked on each day, nothing more.

There was little to do that could distract her from that realization, with the hunting season months away, no active ground wars to fight in, and an insistence from the Jedi that she take time to recover properly, whatever that meant to her.

The silent ambience of the place allowed her to hear Qoso approaching well before he actually stepped out onto the open balcony and touched her shoulder. Sometimes she had wondered if there would be more warmth between them were she not away for a vast majority at the time. Being stuck there wasn't doing a whole lot to prove that was the case after all.

"Is this how it will be for another two weeks? For the next month? Jayden please…" He knelt down by her side, gently taking hold of her hand between his. "You've said barely a word since your return. I do understand wanting to sleep alone, but complete silence unlike you." It didn't prompt any physical reaction at first.

It had prompted the underlying issue at the forefront of Jayden's mind. "You don't regret marrying me then? You don't feel angry about being put through the stress of wondering if the last you'll hear of me is that I was shot in the back on some backwater planet?" Her hand drifted down along her leg, pressing the synthflesh in different areas to remind herself that it was still entirely artificial.

"We both knew that it would involve risks far beyond those faced by any one Mandalorian. How you die does not matter to me. You have done so many great deeds that I and every one of us will remember."

"As a Mandalorian Jedi. What about as Jayden?" A shudder went through the length of her spine. While repositioning, she finally turned herself around to Qoso. "All I can think about is the fact that I barely escaped death twice within a few hours, and wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a Sith woman and her husband. Meanwhile, we're almost always in opposite sides of the galaxy."

Qoso glanced at the leg as she continued to prod at it, still bearing questions about that as well. They remained unasked in favour of the more pressing issue. "We're here with each other now. It would take a mere conversation to arrange more time together. Possibly even partnered assignments. Or is that not what you are asking for?"

She had asked herself that question so many times already. It was incredibly difficult to break away from the assumption that she would be told where to go next every single time. She had to be out in the field, fighting off the Sith and their supporters. Sitting there with very little to do was the absolutely last thing she wanted.

"I need time to think. But, what I do know, is that I can't be a Jedi, a Mandalorian and a wife at the same time, not with the way things are. Something has to change." She pushed herself up and brought her legs around off the chair, gripping onto her right thigh for a while longer before she forced herself to let go. "I haven't been any of those lately. Where do we even start?"

A smile grew on Qoso's face as he clasped his hands around hers. "This may sound a bit selfish, but perhaps it would be best to continue with 'us' first."

It took a little while for the implication to sink in for Jayden. When it did, her cheeks flushed slightly as her eyes began darting around. "I'm still not used to the leg. Are you certain you're okay with it?" She saw no change in his expression. He was apparently far less bothered by it than she was. "Give me an hour to freshen up."

* * *

"Babysitting was supposed to be a joke, not the actuality!"

" _Atris, it has only been two weeks…_ "

"Two days was enough! When you said twenty four year old woman, I did not expect someone with a mentality half that age and going through just about every mood swing I can think of. Sereti, she has to go now!" Atris nearly lost her temper as the holo image began flickering. Now was not the time for 'conveniently' dropping the signal.

" _You know what's at stake here. If we move her around too much, the Sith will track her down and everything goes to hell. Two more weeks and she can go annoy the Luka Sene for a while._ "

"I know you really do not like them, Sereti, but even their patience has limits. Do you really want to strain relations with them further?"

" _Right now I could not care less. We need the Mandalorians far more than we need my people. And since we found nothing at Katarr they have no grounds to come and complain to me. Two more weeks, Atris. Please._ "

Her hand went to her forehead again, pushing against her aging skin as she tried to make herself appease Sereti's request.

When she wasn't having a moment, Maarani was actually pleasingly attentive and quiet, close to being an ideal student in those phases. Her other phases were an ordeal to deal with. The droid she had brought with her was irritating all of the time.

"This is the last favour. Dealing with her has drained what little sanity I had remaining. I assume that the archives are still waiting for a new overseer?"

" _Long overdue, though the padawans have been patient._ "

"Patience is not a word I associate with padawans." The frustration had waned enough for Atris to relax back into her chair at last. There was some level of relief in finally knowing when her time to leave Telos had come. "I will discuss it further with Dana then. Just make sure that this does not all go to waste, please."

" _Not one among us wants to see our best hope for a peaceful future go to waste, believe me. Force be with you Atris._ "

She barely had time to get out of her seat before Dana appeared at the doorway. "Two more weeks. I assume you know where you are going next?"

A shrug came from Dana as she made her way into the room, sitting on the edge of the table. "We didn't think she'd be this unstable. Even before her exposure to the inhibitor device I don't think she was nearly as wild. And her military record gave no indicators of this kind of behaviour either."

Atris half nodded as another oddity occurred to her about Maarani's past. "Why was she not pulled from the military on arrival anyway? If she had calmed down by then, she might have actually been easier to train than this juvenile mess."

"She'd ask too many difficult questions, with answers that would hurt in dangerous ways. Now she's made assumptions, we can tell just enough to let her fill the rest in for herself. Until she's ready for the whole truth." She cracked a smile as she pictured where Maarani was at that very moment. "Maybe she just misses having a heavily structured lifestyle. Would explain why she seems to enjoy doing supply runs so much. Lots of schedules to keep track of." That was about as blatant a lie as she could bring herself to tell, but it did spare Atris further grief.

* * *

Issues with the cargo loaders had left Maarani with a spare hour to explore the station of her own accord. Normally she barely had time to wander outside the docking bay before she had to return to the _Distant Star_ , just enough time to look around the long corridor running through the section.

The sense of wonder that came as she stepped into EM81 was immense. There were a few marks and gouges in the walls that she passed by, labelled in various scrawls as belonging to Sith boarders or Surik and her companions. Signs of history that had been left as they were, just as Dana had described since their arrival.

Mixed feelings began to take over as she approached the cantina. It was clearly exploiting its historic fame to attract customers, something she actually found to be amusing. It was also exploiting animated images of Twi'lek women, which left a very uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Brought with it was also a level of disgust that she tried to swallow back down.

Even when she timidly stepped through the doorway into the bustling atmosphere within, she could hear Cecile wailing on about the dancers. From halfway across the planet somehow.

"We ain't hiring, lady."

Maarani's fist tightened as her eyes very slowly slid towards the bartender. Disgust was something she had to overcome to join the ranks of the Jedi, but the sheer nerve of implying she-

"She wants rycrit juice, Soogo, not to dance. Get your eyes fixed already."

"Shut up boy!"

Her arm was quickly tugged to the bar by a bright pink hand. Once seated, the man to her right turned his head to her, glancing at her.

"Ex-military? You're trying way too hard to look like a hired gun y'know, lot of dismissed soldiers make that mistake." He took another long gulp from the glass in his other hand, sliding it across the bar as he twisted around more. "Soogo's not that much of a misogynist, don't let it bother you." He went quiet as the bartender returned, scowling at both while slamming a tall glass of puréed rycrit meat in front of the Twi'lek.

Maarani waited for him to turn his attention to another customer before leaning towards the 'drink'. It smelled about as unappealing as it sounded. "Why would anyone want liquified meat?" After glancing around, she retrieved a straw and cautiously dipped it into the fleshy mess. A layer of fat was already starting to congeal on the surface. Her lips were trembling as they approached the end of the straw. She had always been told to try something before refusing it outright.

"I thought Twi'leks don't like food they have to chew."

She made no attempt to hide her relief while pushing the tall glass away. "We don't like refusing food. I'm not sure this is food." A handful of credits were tossed onto the counter before she twisted herself around to the stranger at last. "So, should I be jumping to conclusions, becoming a hypocrite in the process, or do you help Twi'leks in distress just for the sake of it?"

A slight grin followed as the stranger poured himself a fresh glass and lifted it up between them. "You don't talk like a hired gun either. Too much rambling, not enough 'uhh', 'nuh-uh' and 'uh-huh'." He lightly jabbed at her arm and poured out a glass for as well, having an apt knowledge of where fresh glasses were located behind the bar. "Izan, barfly, bad shot, and rescuer of Twi'leks suffering from racist assumptions about their species. That more your speed?"

After a quick sniff from the glass, she rolled her eyes and took a sip. Nothing she found particularly appealing, though when compared to the meat smoothie… "Maarani. Ex-pilot, and I'm more of a personal bodyguard actually. Feel a lot safer when I know who I'm protecting." Another sip from the glass followed. It wasn't actually that bad, though she relented from further tasting upon noticing his wandering eyes.

"Looking for something? I'll tell you right now that you're not my type."

Izan's attention had settled on her blaster pistol, noting the clean body but surprisingly worn grip. Often held but rarely fired. "I suppose that does make more sense. Try to look tough, but rely more on wits and general knowledge, or intimidation over violence. Don't know many pilots that go from fighters to bodyguard though." His gaze lifted back up as he noticed some less desirables beginning to glance in their direction. The sort even he knew not to tangle with.

"So, apart from being offended by dancing, what brings you here alone? Boss going to be in important meetings for so long that you've got time to get drunk and grab women's flesh for a few hours?"

Maarani was about to complain again when she noticed the movement of his eyes, glancing over her shoulder and to her face repeatedly. Subtlety that even she would have a hard time matching with moving the tips of her lekku. "Well, this is going to sound tourist-y, but I actually came here for the historical draw. Hard to ignore all the stories and legends when you grow up as a military brat. Kinda weird to think there were Jedi sitting here however long ago."

"Oh, I believe it. That Jedi bitch stabbed my mother in the gut."

It sent a chilling feeling right through Maarani's body, which she did her best to conceal by taking another calm sip from her drink. The sudden note of anger in his voice was very unsettling after his quite friendly demeanour. "Really? I'd say I'm surprised, but desperate times and all that crap. Guess that's the hard truth about legends huh?" She glanced at his bright pink skin again. Something about that detail was nagging at her.

"Sorry if this is in bad taste, but it sounds like you were lucky that Jedi didn't aim lower. You don't look over thirty, though I'm bad at guessing age."

"Zeltrons look young until they shrivel up." He took a longer drink from his glass. It was placed down on the bar firmly, though his grip gradually relaxed, the anger subsiding again. "Not a fun story in short. I'm sure you've got far better ones, flying out amongst the stars and shooting at red dots on a screen."

The relief she experienced was covered by a nervous laugh. "I've got a few notches on my belt, not that many though. Nothing like flying through asteroid belts or skin dancing a destroyer." Noting his confusion, she sat up a bit more and used her hands to visually demonstrate her explanation. "Basically, you fly up to the target with less than a metre between your hull and theirs at top speed. Pretty much impossible for them to hit you without collateral. But it's also called suicide skimming for a reason."

A change in the music gave her a convenient window to turn her head in the direction of the band and dancers. The direction in which Izan had been glancing was on the edge of her vision. Some rather nasty looking thugs were sitting at a table right next to the wall, paying close attention to them.

"I think I know this track. Mind hopping over?" She looked back to him, both relieved and a little worried as he nodded to her proposal. The warning about their observers was apparently justified, but that helpful caution could easily change if he discovered her connection to the Jedi.

Her eyes remained focused on the dancers as they left the bar for the lounge. It was extremely difficult to avoid showing any kind of acknowledgement of their observers, though much easier once seated. Now her focus was on trying to enjoy the sight of green Twi'lek gyrating their bodies instead of being bothered by the whole mess.

It lasted all of a minute as one of the dancers shot her a mean look.

"What gives? Am I not allowed to look at your butt because mine's just as big?"

"Seela koa kuri'au runan, rutian chi'kan!"

Maarani's jaw dropped as she found herself on the verge of swiping her arm at the dancer's ankles, wanting very much to see her fall and break her nose, or worse. "You little bitch!"

"Schutta! Schutta schutta schutta!"

"Get down here and say it again to my face!" She was only just stopped from drawing her pistol on the dancer by Izan's timely intervention. Aggressive shouting from Soogo rang in her ears as they pushed through into the corridor outside the cantina. With a few moments to breathe unpolluted air, she quickly found herself overcome by guilt at the outburst.

"You don't take insults well. Shooting someone because they called you a pervert ain't blowing past any judge around here." He looked to the now closed doorway before urging her further up the corridor, just enough to avoid being seen from within the cantina. "The dancers don't like you, and the local thugs think you're up to something. You really need to loosen up whatever it is that's been grinding your gears."

Again, Maarani found herself feeling conflicted on how she was supposed to feel about him. It was sound advice, but came dangerously close to encouraging her to open up about more sensitive matters. "I got kicked out of the military because I'm too emotionally unstable for them. As in I refused therapy. Normally I try to not drag others into my mess-ups." She gripped onto his arm as she took a deep breath, allowing herself to calm down properly at last. "Guess you saved me from a bad situation again. Kinda wish I could actually stick around longer now."

"You struck me as a decent person when you walked in. Not something you get to see around these parts very often."

Both looked to the cantina doors as they opened again. The farce they had begun to display quickly returned.

"Have fun playing guard then, I guess. Maybe you'll swing by this sector again sometime, I'll be here."

"Maybe. If I'm not dead, still tied to the job or serving drinks to pay off a fine." She kept her eyes focused on his face as the thugs they had noticed beforehand left the cantina, headed back towards the transfer shuttle without a passing glance at them. It was entirely possible they would be waiting to ambush her there, for whatever reason. "Before I go, don't suppose you know who or what those guys work for? They're not Czerka, are they?"

Izan gripped her arms back, leaning his head down a little to whisper briefly. "Much worse. I'd watch your back and front at the same time around them. Tread carefully Maarani."

"And you I guess. Not sure I want to say anything native after what came out of that…" She closed her mouth and stared at him for a little while longer before returning to the transfer shuttle. There was no sign of the thugs in the waiting area, or on board the shuttle itself. For all she knew they lost interest when she made a big fuss. Or Izan had been misleading her.

While the shuttle crossed over towards the docking module, she closed her eyes and went over the facts in her head again. A Zeltron man whose mother had been stabbed by Surik during her visit to the station, for whatever reason…

"He stays in the same cantina she did, before it happened." The opening doors snapped her out of the momentary pause for thought. Several Ithorians and other various people were eager to board, forcing her to escape quickly before she was overwhelmed by the surge.

Over the intercom, she could hear references to a starliner sending smaller shuttles to and from the station to transfer passengers. They would be more pushy than usual to get her ship out of the landing bay now that there was a lot more traffic to deal with. Her very abrupt departure from the cantina had not been such a waste after all.

" _Mistress, they are loading the last crates on board now. Will you be returning soon?_ "

Maarani dived her hand into her pocket and retrieved the comm unit while moving to a less crowded spot in the waiting area. "I'm right outside, just wait for me-"

"Warning: Any attempt to contact security will result in the removal of your head from your body!"

Over a dozen HK droids appeared in the midst of the crowd, all bearing heavy weaponry. The ensuing panic was brief as blaster shots took down those who attempted to retaliate.

A very heavily armoured one appeared in front of Maarani. She didn't even need a second warning to know she had to drop the communicator to the ground. The sound of it being stepped on made her wince a little.

"Instruction: Get down on your knees and place your hands on your lekku. Make any attempt to reach for your sidearm and we take both of those limbs off."

"What is it with you Sith droids and cutting off limbs…" She went quiet very quickly as the rifle was shoved right between her eyes. Somehow her first worry was that Cecile would wander down from the ship and get shot to pieces as soon as she entered the corridor. Rather than the fact that she was apparently the target for the deadliest droid group in the galaxy.

The other droids had the rest of the crowd kneeling amongst the multitude of bodies. All were wearing stealth nets, which she soon realized were identical to the one Koor had recovered in the Sarkan jungle. A solved mystery she wished she could share with Dana and the others at that moment.

"Announcement: You will all be free to leave once we have departed. Remain silent and you will not be harmed." The armoured droid turned its head back down to Maarani, pulling the rifle out of her face just a bit. "Statement: You will come with us to our ship when it arrives. No questions will be asked, no attempt to escape will be made."

"Yeah, like I'm just going to hand myself over to a bunch of homicidal droids. I'm getting the impression that getting shot in the head is just a quick version of what's waiting for me." As the rifle was shoved in her face again, she stuck her tongue out and glared back at the droid. "Why am I worth shooting civilians over? Twi'lek slaves are a credit a dozen in some places."

The lead droid turned its head to the others, speaking to them in a unique form of binary before looking back to her again. "Exasperated explanation: Our contractor instructed us to track down a woman known as Tegama'Arani and bring her to designated coordinates, at any cost. We are merely following the guidelines as we see fit."

It sounded even more suspicious to her now. The Sith would have wanted them to make a statement in blood, but she hadn't the faintest clue about anyone else in the galaxy who could possibly want her. And while surrendering to the droids would save those civilians around her, it was completely at odds with her own sense of survival.

She needed another option.

"You sure it wasn't Segami'Orona? I don't know how it is with you droids, but I misread and hear stuff all the time. If so, you've just killed a bunch of people over a faulty translation."

"Observation: You are making a very poor attempt to delay your extraction from this situation." The droid turned towards the nearest landing bay where the others had begun to gather. "Statement: Our ship has arrived. Every attempt to delay us further will cost the life of another innocent bystander. Your parents would not approve of you jeopardizing their lives."

It cut deep into Maarani's being, but for once she was ready cover the pain up with her usual kind of sarcasm. "You really went there, didn't you? So much for heartless machines." With one last passing glance at the others, she bowed her head and very carefully stood back up. "Fine, you got me. I still maintain this is a waste of everyone's time, and some people's lives."

"Statement: Your opinion does not matter to us in this case, merely your cooperation. Personally we would enjoy nothing more than a touch of target practise, but that is not part of our contract." The droid took hold of her shoulder with such strength that she had to cry out in pain, shoving her out of the waiting area into the corridor. More encoded binary was exchanged between the droids as the outer door was opened.

 _Any time now Dana… Just be standing there behind that second door and destroy all these droids with your fancy Jedi powers. Gods forbid that Kiarna just happens to be standing there instead…_

She could hear the door close behind them, locking into place before the inner door began to open. To her dismay, there were two more droids waiting there, rather than any kind of rescue.

"Query: Is this our designated target?"

"Confirmation: Facial scans, vocal records and DNA analysis confirm this is Tegama'Arani."

"Statement: Very good. Then your services are no longer required."

The droid on her left hurled a grenade right at the leader just behind her, while the other made two precise shots and downed the ones further back. After a brief shock through her shoulder, the painful grip fell away, followed shortly after by the loud clanking of heavy metal.

"Query: Are you alright, great Lady?"

Above all else, being referred to as a lady caused no shortage of confusion for Maarani. It was quite easily the last word she would use to describe herself. "I'm fine, provided you don't call me lady. Mind if I ask why you suddenly turned on your boss?"

The two droids turned to each other, exchanging more binary. After a lengthy conversation, the one to her right turned back and spoke normally again. "Explanation: We are part of a small group within the assassination, humanoid disposal and monetarily motivated violence conglomerate of Hunter-Killer Mark 50 droids that have been reprogrammed to ensure your safety, and that of a woman you may already know as Kiarna."

Her stunned silence deepened further upon the mention of her name. Of all the people in the galaxy that could have been mentioned…

"Why her? She's a Sith Lord, or very close to being one. Why would she even need help from within… your conglomerate? And why me?"

"Deflection: We would be more than pleased to explain at length, great Lady, but time does not permit such an activity. The other droids will have grown suspicious by now, and will not hesitate to terminate us when our treachery has been discovered."

The other droid was quick to follow up on his counterpart's point. "Suggestion: Leave Telos immediately, continue to move about the galaxy at irregular intervals, throw off your pursuers. The others like us can only do so much to protect you in your travels."

Both droids readied their weapons again, beginning to move past back towards the airlock. They ignored the binary communication being sent to the disabled leader.

"What? That's it?" Maarani was half-tempted to grab one of their arms and demand actual answers. Pushing her miraculous luck was likely to end very badly. "Someone reprogrammed you. Can you at least point me in the right direction so they can give me answers?" She stepped back a little as the droids looked to her again, this time silent for the most part.

"Cryptic: The Lady, the Seer, the Witch and the Silent have two things in common amongst them. Seek out what lies in between. You will find your answers." The speaking droid's eyes flickered right as the message ended. "Confusion: I do not have any recollection of being programmed with such an obtusely worded instruction."

"Agreement: I have no recollection of such a message either. But it will not matter in a few hours." They closed the inner door once Maarani was back inside the airlock and brought their blaster rifles to aim. The outer door began to open again.

"Battle cry: Yeargh!"

Right after they charged out, Maarani drew her pistol out, more as a precaution than an intention to join the fight outside. There was a new flurry of screams and other sounds of panic to drown out the gunfire being exchanged between the droids. Jumping in and trying to help would only make it all the worse for everyone involved, but she had to be ready to defend herself.

"Just stay low, dodge droid attacks, get to the shuttle. Easy right?" Her voice was shaky as she tried to reassure herself. Even if she did her best to avoid attracting attention, she was bright blue, and had a very large head shape.

A volley of shots rushed by in front of her face as soon as she peeked just around the corner. Station security had broken into the module by that point, waging a tense firefight against the droids while they did their best to evacuate the civilians still trapped in the corridor.

"Alert: The target is attempting to escape!"

"Big mouth." She took a quick shot at the nearest droid gunning for her before diving to the floor. Sparks and shards of hot metal flicked around her lekku as she awkwardly clambered over disabled droids and all manner of objects hurled across the room.

At the threshold of the airlock, she came to the horrible realization that the outer door was closed. The control panel was on the other side, a good three metres of complete exposure to attack.

"Hey! Someone mind shooting that panel? Or just making the door open would do. Anyone?"

A distinctive green shot struck the panel in question. She could hear and feel the magnetic locks releasing, allowing the door to open just a little. With a little effort she could create enough space to slide underneath.

There was strong apprehension while twisting around onto her back and slowly pushing herself towards the gap. If the door came back down on her halfway through, she would be trapped. And she didn't want to think once about what would happen if the magnetic locks were switched back on.

As soon as she placed her hands on the door and began pushing upward, a new dread settled in. It was far harder to budge than she anticipated. Through the floor plating, she could hear the mechanisms grinding against each other, all lacking the usual power provided to keep them in operation. At any moment, one of the assassin droids could walk over and end it all.

"Hold up!"

She twisted her head to the right as Izan dived down to the floor beside her. After everything else that had happened, she wasn't too surprised that he was once again coming to her rescue.

"Don't expect a kiss for good luck."

"Now's not the time for sass. Go!" He pushed up against the door with every ounce of strength he could muster. After a few strained growls, it began to budge up out of the way. With enough clearance, he slid further under the door to push directly up from his shoulders.

Maarani took a bit longer to shift herself underneath, needing a little more clearance for her head and chest. "Just get through and find my droid! She'll help!" She watched him work his way under the door quickly, only to start lifting it up from the safety of the airlock. It was enough for her to roll back onto her stomach and drag herself underneath as well.

"HK droids! What in the galaxy did you do to get them hunting your ass?" Izan took hold of her arm to hoist her back up onto her feet, only to release it in a display of anger. "Hidden Hand pirates are nothing compared to that! Those droids go after Force users and deadly assassins! So which is it tail-head?"

She was almost tempted to use her open hand to strike his face, settling for the fist instead. While he collapsed to the floor, clutching at his bruised jaw, she took hold of his jacket and tugged him back around to look at her. "First, don't you dare call me tail-head. Second, I don't owe you any answers. Saving my life only goes so far to make me not distrust you. And third…"

The bitter tone in her voice faded as she heard Cecile calling out from the safety of the ship. For the moment at least, she had to be careful about what she said. "I don't know why they're after me. I'm not a Force user. But they clearly have a reason, so chances are I'll have to hide and find out why." She took her turn to help him back up once he had seemingly calmed down as well. The sound of blaster fire from underneath the door was quickly fading away.

"You're following me for a reason, and right now I don't care, because I could use some Czerka help. If you want on my ship, you shut up and sit in a room until we leave Telos."

"I follow people of interest. Interest dies off quickly when the deadliest group of killers in the galaxy gets involved." Izan sighed, about to turn away when the blaster fire stopped altogether. Either security or the droids had won the fight, and neither would lend themselves to a pleasant resolution. "Bureaucracy, torture, or the fugitive life. Where's your ship?"

Maarani tilted her head to the open airlock while making her way into the landing bay. The hangar doors were still open at least, and Cecile was waiting at the foot of the ramp for her.

"Mistress Maarani, what was all that commotion outside? And why do you have a male date by your side? I thought-"

Without stopping in her step, Maarani grabbed one of Cecile's hands and yanked her back up the ramp, only releasing it when they were in the main room of the ship. "Don't say a word to him. Not until I've sorted this all out. Understood?"

After the nod, she pushed past to the cockpit and prepared for a very quick take-off. "Believe me, Izan, look out the window or step out of the ship and I will kick you into space!" The communication system flashed briefly as she prepared to launch out. With a flick of her hand it was shut off altogether. Being questioned by station security over the incident would take far too long, and expose her to far too many intrusive questions.


	17. Jedi on the Run

"Dana!"

Dana nearly leapt out of her chair upon hearing Maarani shouting all the way from the landing bay. Before she could even set aside her reading pad, the Twi'lek burst into the room and began shaking her shoulders violently.

"We have to go now! There's HK droids out to kill me!"

"Teegs please!" Once the shaking ceased, Dana carefully stood up and took hold of her shoulders. "Pack your things, calmly. Atris and I will protect you until we get back to Coruscant. Alright?"

Maarani nodded hastily, and was about to rush out of the room again when the pressing issue came to mind. "Uh, might want to wear something not 'Jedi-ish'. And hide your lightsaber. And not talk about Jedi things on board. I'll explain at the hatch."

She was gone before any questions could be asked. Under other circumstances, she would have made a remark about crypticism not actually being a necessary part of becoming a Jedi. The life of her charge was nothing to be joked about.

Her brown eyes quickly scanned back over the room, accompanied by a flowing gesture. At command, all of her items and attire floated from their resting places to the bed, where she placed down a large satchel. Moving the items inside was done directly by hand instead, most notably of which included her lightsaber as Maarani had instructed.

Following the other half was more difficult, as while they had established a cover story, they had not felt a need to prepare for it so far ahead of their planned departure. And while she didn't stick that close to the more traditional Jedi attire, she didn't really make the look of a mining survey contractor either.

"What's taking so long?"

She quickly settled for pulling a jacket on while drawing the now filled satchel to her shoulder. To her annoyance, Maarani vanished from the doorway just as abruptly as she had appeared there, mumbling more things that Dana couldn't make sense of as she followed on.

At the landing bay she finally slowed down enough for an actual explanation.

"I went to the cantina and met a guy who I'm fairly sure works for Czerka, is Luxa's son and is going to help us find out who's behind these HK droid attacks. He doesn't know that I have anything to do with the Jedi."

Dana had little time to process everything that had just streamed out of the Twi'lek's mouth in a desperate ramble. The significance of his parentage was lost on her completely, but she was able to make enough sense of the rest. "Teegs, I know you mean well, but we are the last people who should be going after HK droids. And if he won't talk to Jedi, then there's no point in asking him to pass information along."

"Dana, I'm not getting anywhere with training. I know for a fact Atris can't stand me, and I can't stand her idea of what will help me recover my abilities. At least I won't be standing around getting frustrated while people are brutally murdered by droids looking for me."

A sigh followed from the Jedi as she took hold of her shoulder again. She knew all too well what the intent was behind Maarani's words. But hard truths were still truths. "Recklessness ends up doing more harm in the long run. If you were my padawan, rather than untrained charge, I would agree on pursuing this lead. But we can't outright fight the droids, which means they'll kill more people while chasing us whenever we stop to ask questions."

She took another long breath while watching Maarani's reaction. Very brief anger and frustration soon gave way to reluctant understanding and acceptance, followed by a look of determination.

"I'm not going to sit around and wait this out, or listen to 'wise people' yap about focus techniques that just don't work for me. I really will wait on the whole Jedi schtick if it means we stop those droids sooner." She tightened her lip in an attempt to maintain her sense of duty that was now settling in. "It took them two weeks to track me here. I reckon we can do it."

It was a hard claim given her recent past. The desire to serve the best interests of the Republic had always been incredibly strong, stronger than any of her own personal desires. However much her attitude said otherwise, that had always been the case for her in the end.

The decision was far more nebulous for Dana. Knowingly taking Maarani into great danger was exactly what she had been warned by the Council to avoid doing at any cost. Frustrating her with restrictions and denial was also something she was told not to do.

"I'll discuss it with Master Pala when we're safely away. Any other surprises I should know about?"

"They sell rycrit smoothies now?"

With a heavily wrinkled nose brought on by repulsion, Dana continued on to the _Distant Star_ , where Cecile was waiting for them both. "We missing anything CC, or what?"

"Mistress Maarani's pink boyfriend is complaining about his accommodation. I had hoped she could shut him up in some way."

Maarani made a big point of rolling her eyes as she hurried up the ramp, grabbing Cecile again along the way. "He's not my boyfriend. I'll deal with him when we're not being shot at. Now I need you ready to fix the engines in case I burn them out on a bad maneuver."

"Understood."

While the droid hurried off to the engine compartment, Maarani and Dana quickly made their way to the cockpit. The hangar doors had been left open the entire time, having allowed a thin layer of snow and ice to form over the screen.

"What I wouldn't give for thermal coils right now… Readings on the air patterns outside?"

Dana scanned her eyes over the sensor readout while settling into the co-pilot's seat. "Uh, doesn't look too bad. No extreme low pressure zones or blizzard fronts. Should be fine for a fast orbit."

"Unless the droids get in the way. I'm fairly sure they didn't just come here on a civilian cruiser. Hold on." Maarani clenched her teeth as the ship powered up and began moving forward. At least in the tight confines of Coruscant, she had been able to see what lay ahead of them. It would take several seconds for the icy layers to blow off.

Barely after exiting the landing bay, several alerts began to sound and flash. Maarani didn't even need to move her eyes to realize what they were on about. "I thought we could get away with a cold start. We need to head down south until the engines are ready for full ascent."

"Whatever you say Teegs. I'll try and make sure we don't slam into the face of a mountain."

"That would be nice." She began gradually increasing speed once they were clear of the base. While it was starting to lift away the lighter layers of ice ahead, the falling snow around them was replacing it at a greater rate as they moved forward. Unwanted encouragement for her growing anxiety about not knowing where the droids were at that moment.

" _Hey, this is the intercom isn't it? Mind letting me out now Maarani?_ "

"Izan, right now I'm flying blind and need to remain alert in case of an attack. I promise I'll catch you up on everything as soon as-."

The ice layer turned bright red for a few seconds, accompanied by proximity alerts. After a few seconds, a rumbling explosion echoed back up to them from the surface.

"Shit! I told you they would find us!"

Maarani began forcing the engines up a lot faster, starting the ascent against everything she had learned from training. A burned out engine while drifting out into space was far better than being scattered across half the planet.

Another artillery blast rushed in front of them. The raw heat from the projectile melted a line through the ice right down the screen.

"The scanners must have iced up, they're not picking up these shots until they're right in front of us."

"Well you said no blizzards, not a lack of ice storms."

"They're the same thing Teegs." On a hunch, Dana lightly slapped the side of the scanner. It flickered for a moment, but otherwise remained unchanged. "Might want to add this to the list of fixes at some point, along with the thermals and weaponry."

"Really starting to think that droid was ripping us off." The ice storm intensified briefly as they passed through the upper layers of the polar cloud.

A third blast came within a metre of the hull. The subsequent steam and air currents it created caused a great deal of turbulence for the ship, which would only make avoiding the next shot that much harder.

The engine status indicator switched to green at last. Burnout was no longer a real threat to them.

"Hold tight, this is going to be bad without flight suits." Maarani's hand began to move to the afterburner controls. Just moments before setting her hand down on them, she remembered their waiting passenger. "Izan, lie down against the left wall. Going to have some serious inertia for the next minute." Her hand returned to the afterburner while she waited for his acknowledgement.

" _I have a bad feeling-_ "

"Don't say it! I know what I'm doing!" She nodded to Dana before leaning back into her seat fully. "Mostly…"

The ship jolted back the moment the afterburners kicked in, hurtling them up out of the lower atmosphere towards open space. Every bit of ice was stripped away by the sheer speed, giving them a full view of the looming _Hammerhead_ cruiser above.

Maarani was quite silent as she pulled back on the afterburners. The next artillery blast was already far below their current position, leaving her plenty of time to stare at the monstrosity ahead.

Dana's jaw grew slack as she took in the full sight of the vessel. It was lined with a lot of weaponry, including the massive bombard cannon that had been firing at them. "Where in all the galaxy did they get a Republic cruiser, and the resources to repair and upgrade it like that?"

"We can find out later. I'll have to skin dance our way to the engines, jump to hyperspace from the sensor dead zone in the exhaust wake so they don't know where to follow."

" _Skin dance… Maarani you said that was called suicide skimming for a good reason!_ "

"Izan shut up! We're dead if I don't do this!" She shut off the intercom and looked to Dana directly. "Now would be a really good time to use the Force if it can help in any way. Not trying to be funny." Her eyes were wide when she looked back to the cruiser. It was slowly turning towards them in order to bring the array of forward blasters to bear. Shots from the side mounted cannons were already starting to hail down in their direction.

After another look at the cruiser, Dana slowly nodded, her hand moving across to grip the Twi'lek's shoulder. "You have to reach out to the Force, I can't do it for you. I also can't fly us across the hull of a cruiser without tearing the floor out from under us."

Maarani's gaze didn't flinch from their swift approach. Her only real acknowledgement was a flicker of a smile in the right of her lip. "Thirty seconds to the dead zone on my mark. I'll be working out that turn. Charge the hyperdrive."

With a single nod, Dana returned her attention to the sensors, constantly observing all of the information being relayed to her while the hyperdrive systems began to build up. "Deflector shields are almost gone. No turning back."

"Blue Squadron never retreats from a fight. Mark!"

The cruiser's turning gave them a very brief window during which neither array of cannons could fire at them as they approached at great speed. Mild pause from the growing tension that she had to ignore at that moment. Every single movement had to be precise.

A sharp twist to the left brought them sailing through a small gap in the blaster array on the port side. Another twist back to the right levelled them out parallel to the cruiser's hull. Her hands were very steady as she brought them down just above the surface. Proximity alarms were blaring all around her.

By then the speed had dropped substantially to allow for the constant adjustments that would follow. The thumping of blaster shots scorching the hull as they flew by the side mounted cannons gradually faded out of her mind while her focus deepened. She was only passively using her eyesight to make corrections now. On another level of consciousness, she was planning out the sharp left turn that was just seconds ahead of them.

Whether it was a brief moment of contact with the Force, or a full recall of her training she couldn't tell. With just three seconds to the point of execution, it became clear to her entirely.

The main engines were shut off abruptly. For the first second, the ship flew out away from the ship on its own momentum, creating enough space for the turning thrusters to twist the ship around to face towards the engines of the cruiser. With half a second left, she brought both the engines and the afterburners on again.

"Hyperdrive now!"

They were in the heat of the exhaust zone for less than a second before hurtling into the hyperspace window, still turning enough to throw off any tracking predictions up to that moment.

For several seconds, neither of them moved a muscle, only able to stare ahead at the column of blue rushing around them. Against odds, and physics, it had worked.

"So that's skin dancing? Not bad for an 'average' pilot."

"Average by ace pilot standards." Maarani took a long, deep breath at last. Her lekku still felt lopsided from the inertia, but the feeling would soon pass. They had all the time in the galaxy to relax now. "Better go see how Izan is doing. Probably bruised and upset. Cecile too, actually, I forgot to warn her."

Dana grinned as she stood up, once again lightly touching the Twi'lek's shoulder. "Glad to see she's not just another 'machine' to you anymore. Just promise me our new friend isn't going to be trouble right now."

"I don't know if he's got a thing for Twi'leks, or he actually knows the bodyguard story is a lie. But he's the nicest Czerka agent I've met to date, and he's willing to help with the droids. That's enough for me right now."

* * *

"Frustrated conclusion: Our field reports about Tegama'Arani's skill as a pilot were woefully imprecise. She clearly has more skill than her record would indicate."

"Suggestion: She is also accompanied by a Jedi. They may have found a way to overcome the statistical probabilities of escaping our attack."

Besh Leader moved over to the central command console, bringing up a holographic recreation of the Distant Star's last trajectory before they entered the blind zone. It appeared as if they were losing control, but the last second actions had proven otherwise. "Assertion: We will need to factor in Force driven feats that defy logic for all future calculations. We will also need to factor in inside interference from-"

"Alert: Incoming message from our contractor."

With a gesture of his hand, Besh switched the projection from the ship recreation to that of their hooded employer. "Summary: We failed to capture Tegama'Arani due to two factors. An unexpected display of skill on her part, and two of our own HK droids that were reprogrammed by the Following. Cresh Leader was also disabled in the betrayal, and is currently undergoing repair."

The hooded figure lifted a hand up to stroke his chin in thought, making barely a sound as he stared directly at the heavily armoured droid. " _No matter. You will be compensated for all costs, as usual. When a new opportunity arises, I trust you will all be ready to attempt capture again._ "

"Affirmation: The Hunter-Killer Mark 50 droid series is programmed to pursue a goal until it has been achieved. We will capture the Twi'lek alive, no matter how long it takes." Beta turned his head to one of the nearby droids, exchanging binary for a bit before returning to the contractor. "Statement: Aurek Leader has reported that tracking down the Sith known as Kiarna is proving to be a 'fruitless chore in bumbling around'. He is requesting any insight that may be provided into her current movements."

" _I have been told as much, she does not stay in one place for very long when evacuating her kindred Miraluka. I believe the man arriving at your ship now will prove himself invaluable with locating where she will be going next._ " He gestured to the hallway behind Besh, where a slim man with wide green eyes was approaching from.

His deep maroon coat that reached down around the top of his boots gave him quite the intimidating appearance. That in addition to the constant stare he bore drew full attention from the other HK droids in the room.

"Confusion: How will an underweight Human male be of use in taking down one of the Sith's best killers? Any competent assassin would bring a presentation of weaponry to such a meeting."

A sly smile crossed the stranger's face as he approached Besh Leader, then stepped past to the control table. "It seems the deadliest collection of droids in the galaxy are sadly limited in their perception. Or perhaps I'm just that good at concealing the truth." After gazing over the controls, he turned to the commanding droid briefly. "May I demonstrate?"

The droid glared at him with steady amber optics for a while before finally nodding.

With a returning nod, the stranger lifted a hand up to his right eyeball, and with a soft tug, pulled it free of his head. "Azera Vass and I have a great many things in common, you see. Not least of which would be a small tumour deep within our brains that has some very nasty effects." He placed the removed eyeball on the table to retrieve the other, also removing it with very little effort. The false eyelids began sinking in a little now that there was nothing to hold them up.

"It really is fascinating how important ocular spheres of jelly and blood to the majority of races in the galaxy. To think just how versatile they can become in the right hands." With a wave of his right hand, the two eyeballs came to life. Four mechanical legs sprouted out from around the nerve base, allowing them to move across the table with a very faint patter of pointed feet. The right eyeball iris and lens split open to allow an array of tiny tools out into the open. From the left emerged a tiny laser, which sat on a smaller sphere inside the eye for free rotation around the place.

Besh was caught by surprise at the realization that they were two tiny probe droids with extensive modifications. "Fascination: These are the work of truly skilled craftsmen. A very costly affair no doubt, and yet we have never heard of their type, or the owner."

A soft chuckle followed as another hand wave caused the eyeballs to revert to their disguised forms. "Then I've done my job right. Spy work is more my profession. Unlike Azera, I do not find much in the way of joy from seeing pain in others. I never did care for the ways of the Sith anyway."

"Query: Then why choose to join forces with a group of assassins? We were given clear instructions to eliminate Sith targets, not spy on them."

The stranger lifted his finger for pause, still in the process of replacing the eyeballs in his otherwise useless sockets. "Slight change of plan, my friend. I want Azera alive, ideally with her body mostly intact. Having spoken with our mutual contracter, I believe that together we can prevent her corruption from getting out of hand. I don't mind if she suffers a bit of brain damage in the process, a quiet wife is a pleasant one after all."

" _Zimorr, remember that your contract, and the one I have with the droids are still exclusive. Taking her alive will be at their discretion. Do not be so quick to count on that_."

Zimorr nodded at that with his usual smile, his perception of the contractor's projection somewhat faint, but at least recognizable. "Of course. But, as I so happened to notice, Auresh Leader does require some sort of help in dealing with her. Such help would have to come at a price." He returned his false gaze to Besh, still bearing the smile.

After another exchange in binary, the droid turned his attention to the Miraluka in turn. "Statement: Capturing a target is not what we were designed and programmed for, as evidenced by Cresh Leader's treatment of Tegama'Arani. We may disable her permanently in such attempts. There may also be casualties, including those Miraluka she is rescuing. Analysis suggests you may not be happy with such risks."

"Oh, I don't think I'll mind if she is missing a leg. And the brothers and sisters who followed her instead of me all those years ago are of little concern now. Drive her into a corner, and I will be there to spring the trap. Agreed?"

A long pause followed, ending with a slow nod from Besh. "Statement: These are satisfactory terms. We have had plenty of killing in the past three weeks already, and expect much more to follow in our pursuit of both targets. And it is pleasing to see that even a Force wielder sees the value in utilizing droids over magical ridiculousness."

The contractor nodded as well, finding the outcome surprisingly amiable. " _As far as tracking down Tegama goes, I would suggest focusing on her nanny droid. The Jedi will not be turned, and the Czerka agent is more likely to outright kill her should the truth be revealed. Be very wary of the Mandalorian when she enters the playing field._ "

"Statement: A good suggestion, as always. We will explore that angle of attack in our next set of calculations. Good day to you."


	18. Cold Shoulder

"Anything to report."

As he had every time he was on watch duty, Samuel gave the most belated of shrugs as he twisted his chair around. The sight of a hot drink being carried in by Culligan was a welcome respite from the tedium now just behind his shoulder. "She just stays in that headstand, constantly. Freaky enough with that stare of hers without meditating like that." He slowly twisted his head back around. For a moment he had the terrifying impression that she was now staring at him through the camera display.

"Don't let her get to you. Remember what good ol' Rasters said. You only need to be afraid of something the Dark Lords can't kill. I bet Lord Kiarna could take her down in a pinch." Culligan took up the other seat while placing both his drink and Samuel's down on the small bench. The Twi'lek was still in her normal pose, standing perfectly still on her hands. It was almost comical to see, though none of them would dare crack a smile at the cost of any Sith.

"Rasters also has Morgak to protect him from them. And our merciful red skinned overlord is off in the ass-end of the galaxy for all we know. You really think the lizard is going to protect a couple of corporals from that thing?"

Culligan was quick to shush him rather fiercely, constantly looking around the room on the odd chance they were also being observed. "They'd have your neck if they caught you talking like that. Would you rather Lord Rak'Sakar does the deed over the Twi'lek?"

"He wouldn't invade the bunk in the middle of the night and rip your intestines out. Or chew your eyeballs while she hangs you by your ears. There's Sith, and there's screwed beyond sanity. So yeah, I really would prefer the unseen blade over the flesh eater." When he finally took a sip of his drink, it brought a much needed feeling of relief. In an hour he would be off observation duty again, free from the tension.

" _Observation Station; you are hereby ordered to terminate all surveillance and recording equipment, and return to your standing posts for the next hour. Comply immediately._ " A clearance code followed immediately after. Silent was issuing the command.

Both men were shocked briefly before carrying out the order in a very hurried state. Unlike the Dark Lords, the executive torturer made a point of knowing every single face in the Imperial army.

"Another visit to the Twi'lek? Why is he so insistent that there be no record of them?"

"Not our place to ask. You said yourself, she's mad as hell, and I doubt even Silent's sabacc face holds up in there." Culligan took a short breath once the last monitor had been switched off. While less stressed about the whole matter than his colleague, there was still a notable sense of dread over whether they would conform to orders in time. "Standing posts? We're off duty in an hour anyway?"

A smile crossed Samuel's face as he retrieved his drink, taking another long gulp. "I think you have the right idea. Let's round up who we can in the game lounge."

* * *

As soon as Masaka sensed a cease in the activity in the monitoring equipment around the room, her eyes flicked open.

With barely a thought, she began levitating up towards the ceiling. Once there, she crossed her legs and rested both hands on her knees. A normal sitting position, except for the fact that she was actively defying gravity in the process.

"Separate. Speak. Listen."

She turned her head to the left. From her eyes poured two streams of energy, twisting and merging into a humanoid form. It took the form of a human man, bearing scars that matched her own. The Sith master of speed. As she had taught Kiarna not that long ago.

She turned her head to the right. Another stream of energy poured from her eyes, this time taking the form of a Twi'lek man. His lekku bore a matching pair of spikes that had been driven through the flesh. The Sith master of warping. Lasidia had been most interested in its use, though she had not explained why.

Finally, her gaze moved to the spot across the ceiling light from her. A Kaleesh woman was formed, her mask split down the middle in line with the large scar that divided her face. The Sith overlord of balance, the one thing keeping all four of their minds from consuming each other.

"You have news for us, young one?"

Masaka nodded sagely, her fiery eyes glaring between the three of them in rapid succession. "The lizard is growing more suspicious by the day. He suspects I know that he plans to betray Lasidia when we find the superweapon. He plans to kill me before that, we must learn how to survive his attack."

The human, Darth Properatus, nodded with a low hum. "It would seem the art of Force speed has been refined drastically since my time. I focused on distance, size. he focused on single strikes. The same power condensed into a single blow would take the Force a truly focused Sith Lord to deflect. Even us four together might not be powerful enough to stop such an onslaught."

After a pause for further thought, Masaka turned to her right again. "Darth Fradactus, Could we simply warp an explosive into one of his body cavities? He would have a hard time cutting it out before detonation."

"I have contemplated that at length, child. But you would need an impression of such a cavity." A ghostly hand moved up to feel around the hard spikes. While it was all an illusion created by Masaka's mind, the pain still felt very real to him. "Kiarna could teach you to perceive through the Force, but Rak'Sakar would be alerted immediately and protect himself against such an attack. Technology would suffer the same drawback."

"A dirty trick would have been better, but if we must outwit him in combat, so be it." She turned her attention forward again, meeting the unwavering gaze of Dark Lord Trutinavi. "Any ideas? I certainly don't have the physical strength to fight him in a 'fair' match."

For a while, barely a sound came from the Kaleesh. Even in their ethereal state, with no reason to blink, her uninterrupted stare was harrowing. The raw malice, hatred, and fury trapped behind the carve down her face. Thousands of years of being trapped in a tiny box while her mortal remains faded into dust had slimmed that restraint by a great deal.

"Attack his weakness. Find the head of his mate, hanging on the wall of a Mandalorian hunter's home. Take her dead eyes and crush them in front of his." When she leaned forward, both men to either side of her leaned back just a little, still very much fearful of her presence alone. "The pretenders are the pinnacle of everything wrong with what the Sith have become in our absence. Lasidia has the courage to admit her utter disrespect for the true ways. Rak'Sakar knows only the corrupt shadow of them, ruined by centuries of pride and greed."

"Of that I am well aware. It still sickens me that I had to suck up to the bitch just to be released from that cell. She cannot comprehend the suffering she will feel for taking my lekku." Masaka took a long moment to breathe. Maintaining the three projections took an enormous amount of effort on her half, and for once she couldn't draw on anger to fuel that effort.

Her thoughtline soon moved to their long term plan. Something she had nothing to be angry over. "Properatus, I believe there are more than enough humans to sift through for a suitably powerful host. We can arrange acolyte trials as soon as the leash is off, you will be free soon enough.

With his nod of acknowledgement, she looked to Fradactus again. "When we capture my sister, we can find a superior genetic match for her. If she really does have hidden powers as Lasidia believes, then I can think of no better a being to inherit them when she gives birth."

"If only we had more Sith like you in our time. Glad to murder and torment family members for the benefit of all."

A smile cracked her face when she once again looked to Trutinavi. "Since Force sensitives of your race are rare, we may have to break a Jedi for you to inhabit. I cannot guarantee they will be of the right gender either, or nearly as powerful as you once were at first."

"It matters not to me, child. My days of rule ended when the traitors cut my head down the middle. A new body to complete my work with is enough." She twisted her head around to glimpse at the door behind. For a moment, the slits of her eyes glowed bright against her transparent form. It was a while before she returned her gaze to the bright light they were circled around. "I sensed the presence of another. It was not Sith, or Jedi. Not the Jedi of this era at least."

"Perhaps another of Lasidia's dangerous ghosts. Now, is there anything else that must be discussed as individuals?" This time when her eyes glanced over the three, it was much slower, only moving when an acknowledgement had been made. None had further matters to discuss.

With a deep breath, she released her hands from her knees. "Converge. Whisper. Hear."

* * *

Silent's fingers clasped around the middle of his forehead. The newest wave of acolytes had been performing so poorly that it was impossible to pick out the weakest for target practise. Rak'Sakar's demands for more frontline duelists and casters had only made the task that much harder. Even fear and anger weren't enough to conjure the slightest spark from their fingertips.

The arrival of Masaka following her private hour only served to further his headache. Keeping up his mental defences against her prying eyes was strenuous enough. "If you're here to gloat about being right, go somewhere else. I am not in the smiling mood today."

"I've done some thinking. I want an apprentice. You have my word I won't harm the ones I don't choose, physically or otherwise." Her soft smile grew a little more as he seemed ready to capitulate immediately. It hadn't been long at all since she was one of those acolytes herself, and already she was making headway with her new plans.

"Fine. Everyone line up!" As the mess of dark red robes formed into a line, Silent walked down along them with his hands clasped behind his back. "Some of you may know Masaka by reputation. The 'Twi'lek monster in a cage', or the 'Tail-head with no head tails'." His hand moved to his lightsaber as he noticed a few of them snickering when he passed by. "If fear of me, or anger at the fact that you are all too easy to trip over in the hallway is not enough to make you into Sith, I suggest you take another look at your potential master."

At the end of the line, Masaka gave a small wave while baring her wicked teeth. The scars covering her body were glowing red to further her appearance. "Hello younglings. I do hope you remembered to bring your hands to school today."

With a wrist flick, the lightsaber on her hip flew out and activated mid-air, chopping off the hands of the nearest acolyte. While she fell to the floor, crying in pain at the raw stumps that made up her wrists, Masaka moved on to glare at the rest of the apprentices.

"First rule of being a Sith. The truth belongs on your deathbed. Lies start in bed, in the workplace, and…" Another movement sent the head of the next acolyte rolling along the floor, having flown past Silent's ear. "Every test you take. But remember, I am allowed to lie because my life means something to the others. Yours do not, therefore lying will just make you lose limbs faster."

Her hand moved again, bringing her lightsaber to the knees of the next young woman in the line. The little mumble, and trembling of her lip made Masaka's glee even stronger. "I saw that. You're a lot like my sister. Too busy looking at tits when she could have been making something of herself." The lightsaber remained at the acolytes knees while she circled around, moving in close enough to feel panicked breath on her lips.

"Would you like a closer look?"

For a fraction of a second, the terrified acolyte glanced down.

Just as quickly, Masaka's hand struck her face with enough power to send her sprawling across the ground. "Disgusting little wenches, the lot of you. Grow up and find men that will give you good children already!" She twisted her head back to the others again. It took a while for her disgusted expression to return to the smile of a joyful killer. "Anyone who isn't a human male is dismissed. My needs are specific, but I couldn't resist a fun little speech. Good Sith always have long winded monologues about their vision for the future. Darth Lasidia certainly seems to think so."

The whimpering from the first acolyte caught her attention. With a simple wave of her arm, the dismembered hands floated back through the air to her wrists and reconnected themselves. "Ask me nicely, and I will do nice things in return. I am not interested in your suffering like Lord Kiarna is. Now go and make sure I didn't make your arms a few inches shorter, dear." Her eyes flicked over to the beheaded acolyte. "Practise for restoring my lekku does have limits. Don't bother asking me to reattach your head."

Once the aliens, females and alien females had departed, she paced along the line again. None of the men looked remotely like Properatus, but that was of little concern given the ease of facial alterations. "I am looking for the strongest of you. Intelligence and wit are not as important to me right now. I make decisions, you will follow my instructions. Don't need much of a brain for that." The right corner of her lips twisted up into a weird half grin. "That said, those of you with wit, and good observation will know what my needs are."

She rolled her eyes briefly as some glances went down to her slender curves. "Lust isn't the way of the Sith. But you're not getting anywhere right now, so we'll make do. Do keep in mind that having a reward touted in front of your nose for doing well comes with a new level of intense training and strictness that will make you cry." The breath she took following that lasted a fair while. It was so easy to monologue on and promote the idea that she was completely insane.

"Are there any questions not relating to my body?"

A lot of murmuring from the men followed as they glanced at each other, and at her fiery eyes. Eventually they all shook their heads

"Good. We begin once Darth Rak'Sakar gives his approval to continue. Since Darth Lasidia is on vacation to the ass-end of the galaxy we need to make do with what authority is available. Dismissed." When they took their time to leave, her smile faded. "Get out!"

After a tense minute of bustling, the only two people left in the room were Masaka and Silent. And the headless body.

"This isn't a dating service. Do you really have any intention of training whomever you choose, Masaka?"

She shot a glare at him before making her way back to her quarters. "As a matter of fact I do. Perks aside, I need someone that I can trust a handful of secrets to. Since your loyalties are to Darth Lasidia, it necessitated an apprentice. And it turns out I love how my voice sounds when I'm giving speeches."

At the threshold of the training hall, her smile finally returned. "Like I said, the first rule of Sith is that Sith lie. Best to start the day with a healthy dose of irony." Every step down the corridor was accompanied by another beat to her soft chuckle. Maniacal laughter had quickly lost appeal with her, and it made Silent that much more annoyed.

Sooner or later, he would tell her the significance of the glass rod, why it made her hear the echoing thoughts of her sister. Why it glistened in the light so perfectly. The secrets of the tiny Jedi artifact would become clear to her in due time.

* * *

"I do not understand why they spend so much time in motionless silence. It is infuriating!"

Morgak cracked a slight smile at Darth Rak'Sakar's growing frustration. Very slight, as he knew better than to anger him with jest. "Personally I prefer a good hot drink, some parlour games with the officers, and then a book of intrigue, mystery and suspense. It may be as simple as males finding concentration in activity, whereas females find it in tranquility. That would appear to be the case between us all."

It earned a growl from the Barabel, who dragged his tongue along his teeth to help with his boredom. The burning desire to start tearing the place to shreds for the sake of activity was far worse than usual. "I have no use for games, including the one you are trying to play with me right now. I do not like intrigue, mystery and suspense. I want that weapon! I want Mandalore the Steadfast to grovel at my feet!"

"My Lord, a message is coming in from Lord Kiarna's ship, but it is not using the standard encryptions."

With a gesture of his hand, Rak'Sakar brought up a holographic display of the message in text. A grumbling hiss soon rolled from his lips as he took a while to make sense of the contents. "Two weeks. Two weeks and she continues to move her wretched people around in a taxi service. If she and Lasidia are so afraid of the Twi'lek's sister, why does Kiarna continue in this pointless endeavour? And why does she drag my slave along for it all?" Another wave of his hand made the report vanish.

"As you said, they fear what she has already started doing to that stupid girl. You saw the way she ran away right into the arms of her motherly figure. If she had eyes, there would have been tears streaming down under that mask." His jaw shifted to the right as he looked directly at Rak'Sakar, now becoming the one who had to contain his inner feelings. "She has been broken by the Twi'lek, and now her predecessor is taking advantage of that exposed weakness. And still she refuses help from anyone other than her master, who we obviously cannot call upon for help now."

Another growl came from Rak'Sakar, his slitted eyes starting to glow in a fiery orange. "You test the limits of my patience, human. Lasidia may consider you a friend, but she and I do not always agree." He was about to lift his hand towards Morgak in a threatening gesture. Such action had always proven to be more than effective on other Imperial officers who overstepped their bounds.

The unwavering look of determination was enough to make him lower it down again. Unlike most humans, Morgak was definitely not someone he could scare easily. "You are right however. When Lasidia left me to pursue the superweapon, I was given the impression that we already had what we needed. She did not tell me that the pilot we captured was for another purpose entirely."

"She works in strange ways, I will admit. And while I would normally be the first to say we should trust in her judgement, and wait for her to execute her plans…" Morgak's gaze finally shifted away from the Sith to the empty space ahead of their vessel. Somewhere out there, the _Ashbringer_ was being raided by Jedi, looking to rescue that very pilot. Just as she had planned. "The matter with Kiarna is a clear exception to all of that. She should be here, learning the ways of an Empress, like an actual leader. And now the only two who know what is happening inside her head are both beyond our reach. We don't even know what this Maarani looks like, beyond resembling Masaka."

A shuddering sigh briefly broke his composure. "She did leave you in command, so I will defer to your authority, as any and all loyal officers of the Empire would. She is not here to object to your orders.

This time it was a hiss that Rak'Sakar made as he approached the viewing platform again. It was not with malice however. "I am giving the orders now… General Morgak, organize a meeting with your subordinates. It is time we begin to re-evaluate our situation."


	19. The Red Face of Blue Squadron

So often she had been the one to lecture the other pilots in their wing on their duties as Republic soldiers. It came with being the flight lieutenant commander of the ace squadron, and wingman to their leader. Before every battle with the Imperial forces, she started with the first duty, no matter what would follow afterward depending on the situation.

Destroy the enemy. Escape capture. Come home alive.

She had failed the first two, and with every passing day, it became more and more apparent that she would fail the third as well.

The first week had been a waking hell. Initially after her capture, they had barely touched her. Aside from stripping off her uniform and binding her to a cold metal bed, there was virtually no physical harm like she had expected.

That had been a very mild discomfort compared to the painful strobing lights that bombarded her eyes when they were clamped open. Piercing sounds that rattled right through her montrals until it felt like they would shatter. Smells and tastes that forced her to vomit, and subsequently choke for several frightening moments when she couldn't clear her throat.

The touching began when she was forced to wake hours later. People in plain surgical masks and darkened goggles, pressing around her body in all places with their cold gloved hands. All humming a low tone that she couldn't escape from despite every effort she made.

Somehow, it still managed to pale when her captor finally arrived.

One of her people no less. Possibly one of the most twisted minds she had ever encountered. Losing her lekku had not been painless by any stretch, but the disgusting look of pleasure that she had seen still haunted her. The taste for the blood of her own kind, a raw desire to see suffering.

There were old stories about a Togruta witch who had been exiled from Shili, after having her lekku cut off as a warning to never return. As if everything else the Sith had done to her wasn't enough, they had to bring that haunting nightmare to life.

Worst of all, the only thing she felt was a dull sense of emptiness. Her emotions really had been snatched away, including fear. All that remained was a skinny wretch of a body that scrounged up whatever they fed her for the past several days. Escape was a distant thought in her mind.

She couldn't even remember her own name anymore.

"Omena Rami, back away from the door."

The voice was muffled by the thick metal, but she understood the instruction well enough. More than likely it was another cruel game that her guards for the day had decided to play. At least by going along with it, she could escape far worse possibilities.

Her hand immediately went up to shield her eyes as a lightsaber blade burned through the door. It wasn't until chunks of hot carved metal were shoved inside that she realized the blade itself was bright blue.

"Sorry we took so long. Only just got tipped off about this ship hours ago." Through the doorway stepped a woman who had to bend down to half her height just to make it safely. Upon seeing the frail Togruta, she clipped her lightsaber back onto her belt and crouched down amongst the cooling metal chunks. "I'm Jayden. I'm with the Jedi to rescue you. We know you must have been through some awful things, but you have to let us help."

Omena was very hesitant to do anything at first, aside from recoiling a little more from the towering woman. She looked far too muscular for a Jedi, and paranoia was focusing in on every little detail. It could very easily be another deception, just to give her captors something else to mock her with.

"You're not Jedi. I'm not falling for another trick.

The sound of blaster fire began to echo into the cell, along with yells from Qoso. Time to calm their rescue target was being chewed away by the second. "You're right. Husband and I are Mandalorians, that's him yelling out there. In short we owe Blue Squadron a favour."

She extended her arms out, ready to lift Omena up off the cold floor. "Now I'm carrying you out either way. You can struggle, or you can hold on tight."

At the back of Omena's mind, what Jayden was saying seemed to make some semblance of sense. Aside from the fact that she had little choice anyway given her weakened state, what had been said did sound like her previous encounters with Mandalorians. A constant tone of honesty and honour.

A slight nod was all she could manage in the end. The idea that she was being rescued at that very moment still felt distant. Just as distant as the missing part of her body.

Jayden wasted no time in lifting her up and returning to the doorway. "Qoso! We clear to leave?" She had a much harder time getting back out, not being able to hunch over nearly as much with the woman in her arms and holding on for dear life. The delay only served to allow more blaster shots to fly past her face.

From the other corner to her left came Sereti and Koor. A fireball from an explosion in the security wing was right behind them, though fortunately blew past down the other corridor.

Upon seeing their rescue target was safe, Koor swiftly moved past to help Qoso defend at the end of the cell block where more and more Imperial troops were arriving. An increasing number of them were being handed out defensive equipment to advance their line. "Third wave of charges are ready. On your mark."

"Didn't think Jedi were good at laying explosives. Here's hoping." After a quick mow down of coverfire, Qoso ducked back around the doorway for a moment's breath. "Jay, remind us how fast you can run while carrying someone the whole way."

"Faster than your cousin on our wedding day. She used to be the fastest in our clan." A frown followed as she noticed how unamused Sereti was by the remark. Not an easy thing to tell from someone who covered half their face.

She leaned her head out to look at the approaching attackers. There weren't nearly as many soldiers as the Sith could throw at them, especially considering the lengths they had gone to in capturing Omena to begin with, but even then it was more than they could handle for much longer. "Set it for four minutes. Let's go."

* * *

Omena's memory of everything after her cell door being opened was a long blur of activity. Blaster fire, explosions, a lot of yelling. Not unlike being in the pilot's seat, except she was very cold the entire time.

Freeze dried meat had never tasted so wonderful. Actual fibre that she could finally chew on to sate her long starved natural drive for flesh. And while she longed for more, the others had been very clear that it would be a long time before she would be ready to eat normally again.

For now, she had been left to contemplate the fact that the rest of her life would not be the same. It was entirely possible that she wouldn't even be allowed to return to active duty.

Her growing anxiety apparently drew the attention of Sereti, who entered the room only moments later to sit down opposite her. It was her first time meeting any of the Jedi Council in person, and in other circumstances she would have felt quite proud at the opportunity. All she felt at that moment was a cold emptiness, and mixed desire to not be alone any more.

"It's like radio silence on patrol. You hear nothing but your own breathing, and heartbeat. Only it's all gone forever, isn't it?" Her eyes drifted downward as she clasped her hands in her lap. The actual verdict wouldn't come until she was treated at whatever hospital they were headed to. After all, if there was anything the Jedi could do for her, they wouldn't have waited so long to tell her.

Sereti could only watch in solemn silence, feeling the quiet pain that Omena was going through, focused around the left side of her head. There was a noticeable dullness there in her presence. "We are already searching for genetic researchers, cloning experts; anyone who can potentially restore your lekku through biological means. And we have access to some of the best cybernetic surgeons in the galaxy already."

Omena's head soon followed her eyes, lowering down in defeat. A month ago, she would have started snapping about cushioning the hard truth, or demanding that every effort be made to get revenge for such a desecration. There was no passion, anger or determination she could feel. Just the cold.

"That's a lot of effort for a pilot that doesn't have anything to do with the Jedi. I wouldn't even expect that much from the military. Are you planning to pin a medal on my jacket before it goes into storage?"

"Tegama'Arani is latent Force sensitive, and there are many issues surrounding her at this point in time." A lingering sigh came from Sereti. She wanted very much to hear everything Omena could say about Maarani. Any little detail could provide much needed insight into how her sensitivity was lost eight years ago, or why she was more emotionally turbulent than they had ever anticipated.

It soon came back to the hard truth about the other pilots. She didn't like the idea of throwing such horrific news on her after the ordeal, but if left unmentioned for too long… "She was one of the few survivors of your squadron. The White Terror got to the others, we are still unclear as to why she let Tegama go. But while she is pre-occupied elsewhere, I will personally ensure the rest are able to visit when you have had time to recover."

Again, Omena was silent for a while, still somewhat perplexed by the fact that such shocking news was barely having an effect on her. She couldn't even feel anger at the fact that the ability to grieve for her close friends had been snatched away. And yet, at that moment she was starting to experience real contempt.

"Little blue ball of misery was special after all then. Took eight years for that to come through, only it's not doing the squad any good now. Bet she's happy that she's free from drills and practice."

"Considering what prompted her to join in the first place, I don't think it's fair to…"

Omena finally began to feel something other than emptiness, or dull variations of annoyance. For a moment she had no regard for who Sereti was, or what lengths they had gone to in her rescue. The mere idea of passing judgement on her attitude was something she couldn't ever ignore.

"I had to put up with every one of her sob stories. I know exactly what 'prompted' her to join, and all the shortcuts she was given because of that, whether she wanted them or not. Spare me."

Sereti merely tightened her lip and departed at that. Any hope of gleaning information from her had been dashed out. Perhaps altogether, given the apparent disgruntlement. It was now up to Omena's own superiors to handle her eventual debriefing.

Her disappointed state of mind was apparent to the others as soon as she entered the room they had gathered in. "It seems Tegama was not exaggerating to Dana. Her relations with Omena at least were far from pleasant, if not outright hostile. I do have to wonder why nothing was done about it over all these years though."

Koor shrugged as she leaned her chair back a bit more, both arms folded firmly across her chest as she looked to each of them. "She had me fooled for a while there. While that was partially because the truth about her was kept from me for so long, it doesn't change the fact that she can be a pretty good liar when she wants to be."

"It's possible she was intimidated into keeping quiet for the sake of the squadron." Jayden in contrast sat forward when she spoke up. "I don't know her personally, but so far she doesn't sound like the type who would want to appear like she can't handle the pressure. If that got out, they'd go right to her squadmates to learn more and find out they were doing the opposite of being supportive. Last thing ace pilots want is a record of picking on someone who's falling behind."

"And now over half of them are dead. In any case, it is out of our hands." Sereti moved around to take a seat as well, still keeping to her more formal demeanour. "Tegama needs to overcome a lot more than any one of us has in the past. Our focus must be helping her to do that. We owe her that and so much more to begin with."

Her attention soon settled on Jayden across the table from her. "Atris is struggling with her more than I expected. When they do depart for wherever we can send them next, I believe someone far more patient and firm can help guide her. Now I realize I have already asked a lot of you on very short notice…"

Jayden lifted her hand with a soft smile, keeping Sereti from going on more. "I think I can handle a Twi'lek on my own fine. And being involved in this mission did help settle my priorities." Her gaze moved to the left where Qoso was sitting quietly. Clasping his hand in her own, the exchange of looks between them seemed to say more than enough.

"It'll be a while before I get over the leg, but at least I won't be sitting around constantly thinking about it." She turned back to Sereti, her hand remaining firmly closed around her husband's. "Should I book passage to Telos soon then, or wait at their next destination?"

"Dana will know best. We can ask her at the next check-in." Sereti found herself briefly distracted by Omena again, who had left her bed to pace around the room in a fuming mood. "Mind talking to Omena? I think we need to consider the possibility that the Sith did more than extract information from her." From her unseen point of view, she continued to observe until Jayden entered the room a few moments later, at which point Omena seemed to calm down a little.

"Here to say how Maarani's changed a lot while I was stuck in a cell?"

Jayden gave a bemused shrug while pulling up a seat next to the bed, appearing very unfazed. "Apparently I'm going to be teaching her soon. As second squad leader, you'd know what gets through to her by now."

A dark look from the Togruta made her shrug again. "Suit yourself. Enjoy the fact that you can only feel dark emotions now. That seems to be the point behind cutting off your lekku, turning you into something like Darth Lasidia herself."

Her eyes were intently watching Omena's face for every reaction that followed. The sort of flicker expressions that she often noticed amongst those who worked for the Sith during her previous assignments. It fell into place with what they knew about the current Dark Lord. To her relief the point did seem to make it through, as those looks of anger and such soon faded away.

When Omena finally came to a state of calm, she sat down on the bed and returned to her more solemn pose. "She said it was a message. And something about 'showing her the way to the Rakata'." Her head began to spin as she was thrust back to that traumatic hour. Feeling the vibrations of the blade, and a tongue gliding along her wounds. "What gods did I upset to get that kind of treatment?"

With her best face of comfort, Jayden stretched her arm out to grip onto Omena's left shoulder, being very careful around the stump. "I know having a leg blown off doesn't really compare, but I will say that closing yourself off from those trying to help doesn't work. And as much as you might want to get back into the action, take two weeks off at least. Then ask for a dangerous rescue mission of your own."

It didn't get a smile out of her, but both knew it wasn't because Jayden's words were not helpful. Another long winded sigh followed before Omena finally had the will to sit up a bit taller. "I wonder if anyone will even notice. I never cared for being nice, or friendly about anything."

"When you get your lekku fixed up, that would be a good time to start." Jayden's hand slid off her shoulder, coming to rest on her own cybernetic leg. "Once you get over the realization that it's just a lie to yourself, it's not so bad. At the very least you get something back. Sometimes it's just enough to forget about the pain for a little while."

Omena let it sink in for a long while, her gaze unwavering from the floor before them. In essence, she had to accept the fact that nothing would return to how it was. Her choice to leave her tribe to fight with the Republic would be the first new challenge to face, as she now had nowhere else to go but home.

Whatever dark place she had fallen into in the cell, Jayden had managed to bring her out of it for a little while at least. That much she owed her for. "Maarani is a bit of a crybaby, but she does have real determination when she actually wants to be focused. Just give her a daily routine to follow and she'll stick to it." Her gaze finally lifted away from the floor, slowly turning to the woman herself. "If she is going to fight the Sith eventually, ask her to find out about my lekku. Whatever Darth Lasidia did with it, I want to know."

"I'll let you know when it gets to that. Don't count yourself out of the fight just yet." Jayden left it at that to return to the main room.

By then, Koor and Qoso were both working on the holocommunicator while Sereti paced around the other end of the room. She was quick to notice Jayden's return. "Something happened at Telos. We can't make contact with the _Distant Star_ , and so far Citadel Station hasn't responded. We might have to take a detour there if Atris is out of touch as well."

Conveniently, a holoimage of Atris was finally projected up in the middle of the table at that moment. Her focus immediately went to Sereti. " _The HK droids attacked the station. Word is they were after a Twi'lek, and both Tegama and Dana are missing. That was three hours ago._ " A trembling breath followed after. Her composure was clearly poor. " _The droids have a Republic destroyer that picked up a passenger and left shortly after. It is entirely possible they were able to track down the_ Distant Star _…_ "

Her breathing became a lot heavier. For a few tense seconds, the projection flickered violently as she began to stumble out of the scanner zone.

Worrying looks passed between the others until the image returned, this time of Shamara.

" _Master Atris says it was just a mild panic attack, but I fear it may be worse. I would ask that help be sent when possible, so we can attempt to track down the_ Distant Star _ourselves. Right now I do not believe we can leave her alone at all._ "

"We will have a medical transport there immediately. But while I appreciate the offer, you and the others must remain on Telos to help restore order." She turned her head to Jayden, who nodded in clear acknowledgement. "I already planned to send someone to help Tegama with her training, they will be able to find her and Dana."

" _Very well. Good luck to you all._ "

As soon as the communication ended, Jayden lightly rested her hand on Sereti's shoulder. "I'll find them, no matter what. They can't have gone far in just a few hours, no matter what the circumstances." She turned to Qoso as he approached as well, a soft smile forming as she took his hands in hers. "I know we've had so little actual time together, but from now on I'll make a real effort to call every day. Let me know where you're posted to next, okay?"

"It was worth seeing you happy again. My life for yours, just as I promised." He kissed her for what would be the last time in a long while, taking hold of her shoulders in that moment before releasing her to her duties.

Koor was the only one to notice a slight shudder from Sereti during the exchange.


	20. Pirate's Life

It was strangely tranquil being able to stand on top of the _Distant Star_ and stare out across open space. The suit itself was bothersome to wear, feeling bulky and somewhat clumsy to move around in. But it was very quiet, and for a while, she could simply enjoy the peace surrounding her.

Until Cecile waved all four of her arms around frantically from the other side of the ship. The lower right one pointed to what had been their comm dish on her right.

"Dana, I found the problem. Looks like I might have accidentally burned the dish off during that maneuver." With plodding steps, Maarani carefully walked across the small corridor connecting the starboard rooms to the core of the ship. As she drew closer, the scorch marks on the port side became evident. "Shit, a paint job isn't going to fix this. It's going to need a proper hull repair."

" _That's fine, I'm sure we can find a place that will do that and the weapon systems. And the scanners. And the thermal coils. And the…_ "

"Yes yes I get it." She bit down on her lip to distract herself from the nerve wracking process of crossing the other corridor to the port rooms. There were no indicators of micro tears, but a lot of the exposed circuitry and plating had been badly damaged. "It'll have to be a space port. Too much of the heat plating is burned out, and I don't want to risk a slow descent without any way to contact landing authorities."

An exasperated sigh came as Cecile continued to wave her hands about frantically. It was impossible to tell if she was trying to say something, or was just having a mad moment. "Dana, anything on long range scanners? Cecile's acting up, and apparently Carmen didn't think she'd need a vocal transmitter."

There was a long pause. Odd considering that the scanners were on the undamaged part of the ship, and Dana was supposed to be right in front of the readout.

" _Nothing I can see. I suppose she'll just have to come back inside and tell us there._ "

"Fine. In the meantime, I'll see if I can get Izan to help with getting into a secure drydock." Maarani tediously turned around to return to the hatch, back on the other side of the ship. She still couldn't see anything of urgency around them. And while she wasn't outright dismissing the potential for danger, she also wasn't feeling any desire to hurry with her space walk.

It was a very tense moment when she finally reached the path down to the airlock. Because the suit was so inflexible, she had to put her right foot out into the void while powering down the magnet in her left boot in order to properly approach the door. Going up had been notably easier because of how much more surface area there was to latch onto. Three metres of metal seemed like a hair's width against the endless starry void.

"Take a breath, and just do it. Nothing to worry about."

" _Teegs, what's wrong._ "

She drew a long breath.

"We also need to get one of those newer spacesuits."

She exhaled that deep breath.

"This clunky piece of junk…"

Her right foot left the safety of the hull lock, stretching out into space. Her weight began to move forward with it.

"...is so inflexible…"

The lock on her left boot disengaged. She was completely detached from the ship. Another long inhale came.

"...I couldn't climb down the way I came up."

For a few terrifying seconds, she continued to drift forward. Her instincts wanted her to start flailing around in a pointless attempt to push her back to the ship. It would only take a light tap against the hull to send her floating off altogether, and there was no telling if Dana or Izan would have the skill to rescue her.

She brought her right foot down slowly. It didn't make contact with any surface.

Her heart began to pound violently as the realization hit her. "Dana! Do your Force thing quick!" It was impossible to see exactly how much she had drifted away from the ship. Apparently more than enough to render her boots ineffective at drawing her back in.

Her heart jumped as something grabbed hold of her leg. It quickly turned to relief as she was pulled back down to the hull. Cecile had ceased in her flailing in favour of bringing her from the brink of the abyss.

As soon as they were back inside, and she had freed herself from the suit, Maarani threw her arms around the droid. "I'm sorry for being so dismissive. You really came through out there."

"I was trying to warn you…" Cecile's head twitched around as her processors tried to make sense of what exactly was going on. "There was a red light flashing on the enviro-suit. I believe it was meant to warn you about the power system becoming depleted."

Maarani's face quickly turned to horror as she looked at the suit again. There had been no warning to her inside at all. "In that case…" She released her hold on the droid to physically kick the suit back into the airlock. With a final poke of her tongue out at it, the entire mess was jettisoned out into space.

"Good job. You just threw away the one thing that could mean life over death if something goes wrong." Izan was far from feeling anything positive at that moment. A big purple bruise had spread over his right temple from where his eyebrow had smashed into the wall. And he looked ready to give the Twi'lek an identical bruise of her own.

"Oh yeah, because floating around in a literal death trap is better."

"Hilarious calling that space suit a death trap right after what I went through." He yanked a small datapad out of his pocket and tossed it at her. "Take your pick. Every shipyard and drydock within five hours hyperspace that I wouldn't consider too dangerous to stop at." As Dana returned from the cargo hold, he nodded to Maarani and wandered back to his quarters. "Come by later, if you would."

Dana barely caught sight of him as she approached the others, still feeling uncertain about his presence on board. "What was that about?"

"I'm not sure…" Maarani shook her head to put the confusion out of her mind. "We've got a list to go through now at least. Let's make a shortlist each and compare what's left after that." She passed the datapad to Dana, and was about to head on to Izan's quarters when another thought occurred to her. "Don't forget we might be looking at a week's stay, possibly more. Try and stick to ones that have tolerable accommodation."

"Good idea. I'll let you know what I come up with. At the very least I think I can find somewhere we can call on for help in the meantime."

With a nod, Maarani strode past to make her way over to the other side of the ship. The door to Izan's quarters had been left open, and from the corridor she could hear him using another datapad, presumably one brought with him from the station.

In her best casual manner, she sauntered into the room and leaned against the door frame. When he didn't lift his head to meet her gaze, she closed the door and made a soft cough. "What's up?"

Izan slipped the pad back into his pocket before finally looking up. His face was still stern, but now lacked the angry look. "I know you're lying about something, my guess would be the job given how things turned out. If you cut the crap with me, I'll consider staying on and helping with your massive droid problem. For starters anyway."

"And what if you don't like the answer? Somehow I get the feeling that the truth is going to end with me having to put a hole through your head in self-defense. Wouldn't be the first time for me."

While she remained quite motionless, her mind was focused entirely on being ready to draw her blaster at a moment's notice. Izan was no powerful demi-Sith Lord. She could take him down if the moment called for it.

He took a short breath and stood up, outstretching his arms and keeping them that way. "Enlighten me. What did I say that made you think we'd come to blows? So far all I'm recalling is saving you from at least three bad situations." There was no doubt that she was capable of killing him if she wanted, even in cold blood. A dead glimmer behind her eyes told more than enough. But for once, he had reason to try and appeal to someone's rational side.

"Dropping the fact that you're Luxa's son scared me half to death. Three guesses why."

It was a long minute for them both as Izan went through the possibilities in his head. Connecting up all the facts, noting observations about Dana and the way she spoke to Maarani. Most importantly, the shouting about cold conditions pointed to a few specific locations.

"You're scared of me because you're Jedi? Hate to break it to you, but the Exchange stopped hunting your lot when Goto bit the dust. And Czerka certainly doesn't have a reason to want your head..." He finally dropped his arms down, then began stroking around his bristled chin. "I am kinda pissed that Surik got away with what she did, only for everyone to call her a hero. But like you said, that's the hard truth about legends."

A scoff followed as he watched the Twi'lek's face start to shift towards a purple hue. "So much for iron guts." When her embarrassment became all too clear, he approached again and took hold of her shoulder, firm enough to make her really take notice. "I appreciate the honesty, including the death threat in a sense. You seem like a good person, if not really tempermental with that gun of yours."

"Don't try and read any kind of 'envy' into that." Her face was still flushed, and no amount of awkward pacing on the spot was going to get rid of it, however much she tried. "Well now that's out of the way, first off I'm not actually Jedi. I lost my Force stuff years ago, and Dana's helping me get it back. I really have no clue why these HK droids want to capture me though."

"That I didn't doubt." Izan finally sat back down on the bed with a great sigh of relief at not having to stand and act firm any longer. "I really don't like the idea of tangling with HK droids, but I'm holding onto that good feeling I got about you when you walked into the cantina."

He lifted his hand up as soon as he noticed her disapproving glare. "Relax, I don't skirt chase other skirt chasers. All I mean is that I've had more to think about and do in the space of a few hours than I've had for the past few years, and it's hard to go back to being a bored drunk."

Maarani had gotten over the torrent of surprises by that point, as well as her brief irritation. Boredom seemed such a mundane reason for him to risk his life for the sake of a stranger, but he had been insistent on removing the deception between them. Perhaps it really was that simple.

"I think we can stay ahead of them if we don't stick around places too long. Let's just say that there are forces out there aside from the Jedi and the Sith that are making stuff happen and leave it at that."

"Fine by me. You do your magic-hand-wave-suggestive-tone thing, or try to anyway, and I'll see what I can dig up from some of mother's associates. Seeing as we're not speaking very often these days. You know how it is?"

For a moment, Maarani was ready to lash out with another bitter sarcastic remark. The reopened wound wasn't going to fade away anytime soon. Instead, she took a few moments to calm herself in the manner Koor had taught her. "We don't speak at all, actually. Maybe when we're not on the run I'll tell you why. Unless you figure it out first." By then she had turned away from him in her pacing. It was an opportune moment to get the raw emotion out of the way so he wouldn't see her in such a pathetic state.

When it passed, she turned back around and leaned against the doorway once more. "I'll let you know when we come up with the shortlist." Her hand brushed past the door panel as she prepared to leave. "I'm sorry for that bitchy moment just now. It's more because I'm a Twi'lek that I get bothered about men getting flirty than anything. They get certain expectations because of the whole slave thing."

"Hey, I get it. Just keep in mind that you don't have to tell someone every five minutes that you're not interested, okay?" He cracked a smile as she turned to leave. "Doesn't mean I can't admire from a distance, right?"

"So long as it's not through a hole in the wall." As she left the room, she brushed her left lekku out in front of her shoulder, a curt smile on her face as she wandered back to the cockpit. She didn't expect Dana to notice any difference while she was pouring over the datapad.

"I've got about five marked within an hour's trip. Some of these spots he listed are run by the Hutts, and I know you don't want anything to do with them."

"Would you want to do business with the race that loves to enslave your people? Can't blame Izan for not knowing though." Maarani slid into her seat and leaned over to look at the marked out places. Only one of them was Republic, and under other circumstances that would be her first choice. Republic bases were also far more insistent on maintaining records, something they didn't need.

"Cross that one off. I really think we should try and stick to neutral stations. Keep the whole thing grey market." She pondered on the other four at length, trying to recall any important fact or report that had been issued that could be of relevance to them. It wasn't an area she had been posted in at any point though.

At a second glance, another name stood out to her. "That one! I'm fairly sure that'll work out great."

Dana looked at the location in question, _Twa'janii Tradeport_ in the Sagarus system. A slight frown formed as she realized the name was Ryl in origin. "Teegs, you're not just saying this…"

"What? I'm a nice Twi'lek. I'm sure they'll be fine with helping me out. And my employer. And whatever cover identity Izan comes up with." She began punching in the coordinates. "Besides, the last Twi'lek I met called me a schutta several times. It'd be great to meet one that's less hostile." Her smile grew a little more as she pictured herself amongst her own kind at last. No overabundance of humans, and not-so-friendly aliens for once.

"Just remember, we're leaving in a week. I really don't want to see you getting upset when that time comes."

Maarani didn't bring up one of her quips for once, merely shrugging it off while she waited for the hyperdrive to charge. "If I really wanted to spend more than a week with other Twi'leks, I'd have gone back to Ryloth by now. I just feel like my people will be more open to helping us out than other neutral places, for a fair price anyway."

There were lingering doubts for Dana, mostly based on what she knew Maarani wanted. Friendly company was definitely one of those desires. On the other hand, detachment when necessary was something she had to learn in her own way. "Fine, I'm trusting you to be responsible for your own conduct. Someone will need to watch Cecile so she doesn't call the whole station a whorehouse in front of the crowds."

"Could just yank out her vocalizer. She does need an upgrade for it anyway, but if it takes a little longer…"

"Teegs."

"Well I was sorta joking?" She glanced at the indicator light as it switched to the ready state. Just before setting the jump, her hand flicked across the intercom again. "Izan, we're ready to jump to _Twa'janii Tradeport_. You ready?"

There was a few cluttered sounds before he responded. " _Wasn't sure you'd go for it given what happened at the cantina, but okay. I'm ready._ "

"A prissy dancer is hardly representative of Twi'lek hospitality, believe me." With one last look at the long range sensors, and finding nothing, she activated the hyperdrive. "Good food and friendly company, here we go."

* * *

There were quite a few armed Twi'lek on the deck when Maarani cautiously descended the ramp. Her hands were quite high above her head even before she caught sight of them, swallowing nervously once she reached the deck floor. "Would've called ahead, but our relay got burned off. Sorry?"

For the most part, they weren't really threatening. Unamused at best, and understandably so. The presumed leader continued to glare at her silently as she approached him with continued timidity. "Uh, I heard this was a Twi'lek station. I'm Tegama'Arani, and my ship could use some repair and upgrades, all of which I can pay for of course. Unless you're mad at me?" She made her best smile, cheesy as it was, in the hope it would spare her from further glares.

The lead Twi'lek frowned a bit more, his gaze briefly moving to the ship in thought before returning to Maarani. "Are the rest of your crew Twi'lek?"

"Well, I've got my human employer, I'm her bodyguard. And uh, a Zeltron who's her secretary and assistant negotiator, and…" She twisted her head around as Cecile began wandering down the ramp. With a curse under her breath, she twisted back to the leader and forced her smile even more. "My droid mechanic. Please please please don't take whatever she says personally. For some reason she has a really poor impression of our kind."

"Oh Maker, more Twi'leks! Why isn't this place covered in neon signs of your females?"

Despite her strong urges to fire a few blaster shots at the droid, Maarani continued with her pleading smile and girlish nature. "I'm an ex-Republic starfighter pilot if that makes a difference? We're only looking to stay a week at most. Please?"

An eyeroll followed from the leader before he finally motioned his hand, indicating for the guards to stand down. "Very well. Bring the human and Zeltron with you to my office, and we can discuss this." He glared at the droid intently. "It will stay on the ship for the time being."

"Fine by me!" She took a few awkward steps back before turning and hurrying over to the ramp. "Cecile, get back inside and shut up. Dana! Izan!"

Izan was first to arrive, his split brow having been mostly healed by that point. His Czerka issue pistol had been hastily remodeled into a more non-descript design with a few parts scavenged from the ship's junk piles.

He noticed the line of guards first, looking to Maarani briefly and receiving an approving nod in response. "Don't have to yell Miss Arani. You know that Ms Lauran doesn't like to be disturbed in the middle of her planning sessions." The fake scowl turned to a fake smile as he looked to the other Twi'lek again. "Ah, they've assembled a procession! Not necessary by any means, but we certainly aren't complaining!"

The leader deepened his frown.

Before Maarani could interject again, Dana descended the ramp as well, now wearing the attire of a Coruscant businesswoman, her short tieback of hair now curled down into a small bun. In contrast to Izan's somewhat floundering persona, she was very quick to approach the Twi'leks and offer a respectful small bow. "My apologies, they are much younger than the employees I requested. You do know the sort I assume?"

It seemed to be enough to soften his sour demeanour, as he extended his hand out in greeting the scowl fading away from his face. "All too well. Seradan'Kulure, station administrator. If you will accompany me to my office, I believe we can arrange repairs and accommodation."

As soon as Seradan's back was turned, Maarani stuck her tongue out at him. This time Dana didn't notice, and thus couldn't give her another glare of disapproval.

The office wasn't too far from the landing bay, but the brief walk did provide her with a very good look around the station itself. While robust in design, there was no shortage of Twi'lek flair in the decorations. Nor was there a shortage of actual Twi'lek. Most barely noticed the procession, preoccupied by dealings with the occasional stranger to the station or each other.

Upon arriving at the administration section, she noticed a holding office for weapons and other restricted items. Another quick glance was exchanged between herself and Izan, as neither liked the idea of having to disarm at all. Dana had no qualms about hiding her lightsaber inside a very secure wall compartment where no maintenance crew could find it.

" _Place all weapons, communication devices, surveillance equipment and chewing gum packets on the tray._ "

"Damn, I was just starting to enjoy this piece…" Maarani hesitantly placed her pistol on the tray, then reached down to the knife strapped to the inside of her left thigh. On the edge of her vision, she noticed Izan drawing out two shivs that slid out from the soles of his boots.

Once the weapons were locked away by the attending droid, Seradan led them through to his office at last. It was surprisingly modest, a notable amount of Ryloth landscape pictures adorning the walls. Beneath them were several native plants in plain pots, all looking quite healthy.

She had barely noticed the fact that the dozen guards they had started with had now been reduced to just two. It was oddly comforting to have fewer scrutinizing eyes watching her every move.

"Now, I get the impression that you and your employees are exhausted from spaceflight, so I will try to be succinct." Seradan had circled around his table, standing in front of the chair rather than sitting down while he accessed the computer systems. "I can arrange a business class and two trader class rooms for your stay, as well as a half day maintenance team, provided you can afford all that."

Dana needed only a brief glance at Maarani to know it was a deal to accept. "That would be most appreciated. Mr Izan will arrange payment." She adjusted her suit while Seradan worked on finalizing those arrangements. "By any chance do you have long range communication facilities? My client on Coruscant expects regular updates; he represents House Rist."

Maarani was quick to notice a flickering expression on Seradan's face at the mention of that name. She had no idea why Dana decided to mention them out of all the houses, but it had clearly struck some sort of nerve for him.

"I understand completely. Once the transaction is done I will take you there myself." He handed a datapad over to Izan, who used the codes given to him earlier in order to access Maarani's limited finances. Enough to cover them for the week, but probably not much longer.

As soon as it finalized, he retrieved the datapad and circled back around the desk. "When you have had time to recover, I would invite you to my quarters for dinner with my family. No doubt Tegama'Arani has told you of our customs by now."

"Oh, yeah, they just love Twi'lek food." She shot a sideways glance at Izan. The horrifying thought of showing up at dinner to discover they were actually serving rycrit smoothies as well…

"I am most grateful. Please attend to our possessions Miss Arani."

Maarani returned to her typical childish scowl as she and Izan were escorted back out of the administration block. Having their weapons returned was only of mild comfort, as she couldn't shake the feeling that the other Twi'lek were not giving her good looks. It wasn't the first time she had noticed it amongst others of her race.

Once back out in the main promenade, Izan couldn't help but nudge her firmly to get her full attention. "Tegama huh? I knew Maarani sounded a little weird, but why modify your name like that?"

She awkwardly pulled him to a quieter part of the promenade, at least out of earshot from passers-by. "It's been eight years since anyone called me Tega. I wanted to keep it that way, but Dana decided to call me Teegs instead. Stick to Maarani and we won't have a problem, alright?"

Izan nodded and lightly gripped her shoulder. "Eight years huh? Guess that explains things." Before she had a chance to get emotional on him, he took a look around at the Twi'lek in the vicinity. Now he was starting to notice the dark glances as well. "Except why they're all staring at you. I thought you said that dancer was just a one-off issue."

"Hey, if I knew my people were going to stare at me like that…" She glared back at them whenever they looked at her. A swift encouragement for them to move on. "I wouldn't have come here. I've done nothing to upset my clan. Hell I've been fighting to liberate my people from the Sith and the Hutts. They should be grateful!"

She looked around again. They weren't pausing to look at her anymore, but there was definitely a lingering distrust. It wasn't hostility, or disgust.

"Let's get settled and work it out from there. You need to catch me up on Twi'lek customs after all." Noting her still sour expression, he kept his arm around her shoulders all the way back to the ship. By that point she had become so annoyed by his clinginess that she had forgotten to notice how everyone else was looking at her.

Cecile had kept herself busy by making her own notes on what needed to be repaired, replaced or intentionally left alone, muttering some sort of gibberish in Huttese this time. It further distracted Maarani by infuriating her to the point of shouting until the droid ceased speaking altogether.

By the time Maarani and Dana's clothing had been moved to the rooms, along with some fake business documents and other datapads, her fuming was beyond even what Izan could feasibly ignore.

"Boy you really bottle it all up. So what if they don't like you?"

Another calming breath followed, ineffective as it was for Maarani this time. The general attitude towards her was starting to reflect back out from herself. "I don't know why it's bothering me so much. Every time I stop thinking about it for a while, somehow it comes back." She briefly buried her face in her hands as she tried to reason it out in her head. Big shocks were barely fazing her, while minor annoyances were driving into the core of her emotions.

The conversation she overheard on Telos began to echo back at that moment. Something about having an empathic presence…

"Why don't you take me shopping then? All my stuff is back on Citadel Station, and I'm certainly not going back there to retrieve it anytime soon. I need good clothes for tonight." He grinned at her obvious confusion, one of her more amusing expressions by far. "Can't a guy be concerned about his looks? I am supposed to be secretary to a wealthy mining negotiator, need to look the part."

"Start by shaving. I don't know how you species with hair tolerate the stuff."

Izan ran his fingers and thumb down the length of his jaw, bristling the short beard of his. "It's dignified. If I shave it off I'll look half my age. I wasn't a well-behaved boy."

"It's disgusting. Strands of keratin and gunk growing out of your skin."

"Says the woman with giant tentacles. And what about your eyebrows?"

Maarani ran her finger along the two solid tattoos adorning her hairless brow. "Fourteenth birthday. Best one of my life." Her gaze settled on his scruffy jacket. It really did look like something a drunk would wear. And the attention drawn to her fake eyebrows gave her a different idea. "Fine, you get new clothes, I'm getting my lekku patterned. Never liked the crap that military regs would allow."

"Tattoos right before a formal dinner? Who's the crazy one again?"

"The one funding your new clothes. Don't abuse it." Maarani awkwardly pulled her favourite jacket off and tossed it in his face while she changed shirts. "If they're going to stare, might as well give them something interesting to see. For now I'll check how long we have before the evening cycle." Once her new shirt was on, she retrieved her jacket from Izan's face and pulled it on again.

He was briefly perplexed by the presence of flower and sweet fruit scents from her jacket, but remained silent on that fact. "I'll let Dana know what we're doing then. Anything else?" He stood up after she did, taking a moment to ensure his blaster pistol hadn't fallen out.

Maarani did the same as she got up, taking a bit longer to inspect it on the possibility it had been tampered with. "Find something to bring as a gift to the dinner. Personally I don't bother with exchanging crap, but apparently Seradan does."

"Maybe I'll find something at a gift stall." Another glare followed. "Fine, I'm sure I've got something noteworthy on me. Twi'lek like old rings and jewellery, right?"

"It's personal value that matters. Just so long as it's not some random thing you just stumbled across five minutes earlier. Let's go."

* * *

Before actually using the holotable, Dana had made her best efforts to check for any kind of surveillance equipment in the room as soon as Seradan had left. Maarani's insistence on going to a neutral station had left her rather more wary. There was no regulation of privacy for them to follow after all.

After a few minutes, she gave up and opted for a different kind of security. Hopefully one the Twi'leks wouldn't think to look for.

"Ms Lauran reporting in. Is Mr Kudan there by any chance?"

Master Torbut was the one who appeared in the projection, briefly confused by her question until the reason for her behaviour was provided. " _Apologies Ms Lauran, we were growing concerned about your absence. I trust you and your… employees are safe?_ "

"Yes, we are Mr Kudan. I am projecting delays of a week to our agreed schedule. I intend to counteract this damage to our efficiency by negotiating with the local Twi'lek population, assuming they have potential mining sites to be exploited." She cleared her throat to distract any observers from his continued confusion. Otherwise she was thoroughly impressed by his ability to improvise.

" _I will inform our contractor of this new development, they will be pleased I am sure. In the meantime, given recent events, we are sending another bodyguard to ensure your safety. A Mandalorian named Jayden Mires._ "

The name was familiar to Dana, though she hadn't met Jayden in person yet. Having someone with Mandalorian training on their side would be of great help if the HK droids did catch up to them at least. "Very well, I look forward to her arrival within the next few days. The people of _Twa'janii Tradeport_ have been very hospitable already."

" _It pleases me to hear that. I certainly hope we can negotiate a deal with them. Good luck to you._ "

Dana waited for a few moments after the transmission ended before moving from her standing spot. Her hope was that the normal blue hue of the hologram had hidden the fact that she had been speaking to one of the few Chiss in their side of the galaxy, something that would easily raise suspicions. There was nothing else she could do but wait for Jayden's arrival.

* * *

"Playback the recording."

Aruga nodded while resetting the holoimage to the start of the session. The conversation was brief, and seemed normal enough for a negotiator communicating with her boss.

Anything but convinced, Seradan continued to scrutinize the recording until the answer finally occured to him. "There!" He pointed right to Dana's hands, which were making subtle gestures throughout the entire message. "Jedi hand signals. I knew there was something off about her group."

"Should we take them down now?"

For a moment, he did consider that possibilty, but logic soon dismissed it. "No, no I think she is the only Jedi of their group. Arani and Izan were both well armed, and childish for their age. Whatever this Jedi's mission is, I do believe she hired those two, but not as bodyguard and secretary." He began to pace around the recording, continuing to watch the hand gestures intently to try and discern what was being communicated.

"What use could the Jedi have for a Republic soldier and a Czerka agent though?" Aruga circled around the control station to Seradan's side, trying to draw his gaze from the recording.

"Make very discreet inquiries with our allies. There was a recent attack on Telos, it is possible this Jedi was the target and fled to us for safety. Two of our fellow operatives did take notice of a Twi'lek and a Zeltron talking closely in one of the station's cantinas." He finally tore his eyes from the hologram, though continued to pace around the room in thought. It was a perplexing situation, so many angles and possibilities had to be considered before action was taken.

After further thought, he finally looked to Aruga. "Have our guards observe the Jedi and Zeltron from a respectable distance. I have something in mind for Arani, but I will not have my daughter spied on."

"Seradan, you're not seriously proposing…"

"She has been lonely all these years. Once the Jedi has been dealt with, I am sure we can convince Arani to stay with her own people. It's about time we had another pilot-in-residence." He reached his hand up to the gold chain hidden around his neck, gently lifting it up to take the pendant in his hand, a print of a tightly clenched fist. "The open hand of friendship is oft burned, while the hidden hand of betrayal finds fortune in discernation."

"And we are guided through life by the way of the shadows."

"Find the mark, strike first. The Hidden Hand prevails."


	21. Dinner with a Killer

The first Twi'lek to actually greet her with a smile was the tattoo artist, Aiyek, of all people. When all things were considered, that was exactly who Maarani wanted to be on the good side of.

Looking around the parlour made her realize that there was a bit of a flaw with her somewhat spontaneous decision, in that she hadn't actually prepared any reference images for the artist to work with. The particular patterning she had envisioned herself with for a while was far from simple.

"Take your time sweetie. Big jump from eyebrow replacements, right?"

Maarani half nodded her head in a bit of a weird tilting motion. There were a few examples that were just patterning, but none that quite matched what she had in mind. "I forgot to draw some examples of what I wanted. Don't suppose you've got more patterning references?"

The other Twi'lek bit her purple lip as she glanced down under the desk. "Uh, maybe. Don't get many wanting patterning, but I can work with that, sure." She nodded her head to the open doorway on her right. The studio itself, walled off so that it wasn't open to the rest of the promenade.

With a note of caution, Maarani made her way through to the studio, where there were in fact more Twi'lek busts with image and patterns draped over them. None leapt out at her as being close to ideal. After looking around some more, she came across a datapad that contained a vast collection of reference images.

"Oh that's where I left it! Just flick through until you find the right one, I'll set up for when you're ready."

The references themselves varied wildly from frame to frame, apparently lacking any kind of organization. And a vast number of them were female surprisingly. "Thought there'd be more men in here. Back in my clan they're the ones who prefer to get patterned mostly."

"It gets updated with every databurst from Ryloth and the colonies. Guess them off-worlders are different to homeborn." By then, Aiyek was arranging her messy sprawl of tools into a different messy sprawl of tools, humming an odd tune the whole time.

While she continued to gloss over the different references, Maarani recalled her earlier conversation with Izan again. "Say, why have I been getting bad looks around here? You've been super nice, but everyone else seems to want me gone."

Aiyek glanced over from her arrangement, shrugging just a little until she noticed the patches on the jacket. "Lot of the Twi'lek here are colonists from all over the galaxy. Last year there was a big brawl between Republic and Empire soldiers, started by our side actually. And since a lot of peeps came here to get away from the Republic to begin with, you kinda have to get used to not being that well liked."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." She returned to the references, yawning slightly as her finger began to grow tired from the repetitive movement. "Maybe I'll just have to settle for something a bit simpler. A lot of these are stylish sure, but I wanted that unique feel…"

The reference she was currently on had caught her full attention. A Tyrian Twi'lek, like Aiyek herself, with heavy tattooing around her face. It was suddenly very familiar, though she could not recall any actual memory of seeing it for herself.

She picked the pad up and walked over to display it to Aiyek."Any idea who this is? For some reason I think I know her."

Aiyek took hold of the pad, moving down to the provided biographical details. "Hm, this is from forty five years ago apparently, pretty old. Yuthura Ban, twenty-two..."

"What!?" Maarani could hardly contain herself at that moment, yanking the pad back and gazing over the picture again. So many times the Jedi had mentioned her in significant tones, the one who had trained her mother in both sides of the Force. The actual source location of the reference had been left blank, but it seemed more than likely that it was on or near Korriban.

Still confused by the outburst, Aiyek returned to preparing the chair and the rest of her equipment. "I've never heard of her, but I guess you have. Must've been a pretty gutsy woman to get that level of marking on her face."

"She's not the only one." Maarani tossed the pad aside and nearly jumped into the chair, adjusting her lekku out of the way as she sat back. "That's the reference I want. Colour it something darker than my skin, just like hers."

"You sure? Forty five years old like I said, and not something I'd recommend for a first-timer. Eyebrows are practically nothing."

"I'm sure. She was a family friend, so I'm told anyway. It's better than what I had in mind anyway." She took a short breath. It was still hours before the night cycle, and she had yet to hear from Dana or Izan on the actual invitation to the dinner. "Any idea how long it'll take?"

Aiyek took another long look over the reference, studying it from several angles while she began readying Maarani's skin. "Three to four hours. Solid colours don't take too long. You can keep a straight face right?" She grinned upon seeing her best attempt at one, overly serious and devoid of emotion. "That'll do. Just let me know when you need a break."

* * *

Izan was somewhat pleasantly surprised to find that the attire available to him was not overtly Twi'lek in fashion design at all. While some pieces were a bit too colourful, even given his bright pink skin, most had a sensibility to them. And the selection of vests were all so nice that he was already finding it hard to select just one.

He was about try on a smooth grey waistcoat when an older Twi'lek woman entered the place. It was her companion that drew his attention, a towering Wookiee that already looked very uncomfortable about his surroundings.

"Raaargh!"

"You promised you'd try to look nice for this meeting. Do I need to remind you how important it is?"

"Raaargh!"

Izan quickly stepped out of the way as the two moved past. The last thing he wanted was to get on the bad side of a furball twice his size while wearing a perfectly good waistcoat.

Fortunately the pair were headed further into the store, giving him enough room to find a mirror, and the closest assistant droid to help with fine adjustments. "It feels a bit loose on the shoulders, and too short around the back. What do you think?"

The droid prodded at his back and shoulders several times with a holo-tape, making quite a few different noises in binary as it did so. Eventually it circled around and did a readout of the measurements. "You have a good perception of clothing size, good sir. Is this the waistcoat you would like to purchase?"

"Sure. Think you can assemble a matching suit and such? I've got an important meeting in about five hours." He carefully took the waistcoat off and draped it over the droid's outstretched arm.

"I will do just that. It is so nice to serve a Zeltron who has far better sensibilities in fashion." The droid was about to return to the back area when a loud roar echoed across the room.

"It's just a bowtie! I'm not expecting you to wear a full suit!"

Another loud roar followed.

"Oh you are just the worst to shop for sometimes. This is almost as bad as bath day!"

Izan was just about to make payment and depart when the Twi'lek approached him directly. All he could see was the angry Wookiee's expression as he followed right behind her.

"A bowtie wouldn't look bad on him, right? Certainly better than the capes everyone else love to wear."

He glanced at her, then at the Wookiee, then the droid, and back to her again. "Uh…" A low snarl made him jump a little. "Maybe a cape wouldn't be so bad? Bowtie on a Wookiee does seem a little…" Through the mess of fur, he could see both eyes glaring right into his soul. "Odd? I think our droid friend would know better."

"You would be surprised at the actual extent of Wookiee fashion. I am programmed with several-"

"Raaargh!"

The droid also jumped at that last roar, muttering several things in binary before turning back to Izan. "I will contact you via station intercom when your suit is ready. Good day to you."

Not a single second was wasted on his departure from the place. Less time being scrutinized by the Wookiee was more time not feeling terrified for his life. He could only imagine what would happen if the fact that he worked for Czerka of all companies happened to make its way across.

When out of sight of the place, he found a small corner to hide in while he recovered from the ordeal. Dana was still somewhere in the administration block, and Maarani was about a hundred metres away having her face zapped off.

Cecile would still be on the ship at that point, since no-one had gone over to bring her out. And if the maintenance crews were already getting to work…

"Death by Wookiee, or death by Maarani. Which is worse…" He bolted for the landing bay, nearly knocking over a few Twi'lek in his haste. There were already a few workers coming and going from the ship by the time he arrived.

Surprisingly, there was a distinct lack of shouting from them or a mad nanny droid inside. So far anyway.

He was more careful when ascending the ramp, keeping out of the way of the Twi'leks until he was inside. Even more surprisingly, he found a few actually being guided to key issues by Cecile herself, without any sort of mad raving.

"Seem to be pretty good at this, CC."

She shrugged with her upper arms, holding a datapad in her lower left hand while the lower right held an access panel open for one of the Twi'leks. "It is not that different from managing small children, really. This dual protocol programming is actually proving to be quite an interesting experience." Her eyes flickered briefly before she returned to the task at hand.

"I'll let Miss Arani know things are going well then. We've got a two bedroom suite for our stay, unless you'd rather stay in here?"

With another shrug, Cecile twisted her upper body around to resume working on whatever panel she had chosen to examine. "This is where I need to recharge. And I can work while these meatbags must eat and sleep. Go enjoy sleeping in the same quarters as the mistress, pink-skin."

Izan knew better to argue, leaving her and the others to continue on. By the time he returned to the landing bay, Dana had arrived to retrieve the last of her items.

"Mr Izan, what are you doing here?"

Both hands slipped out of his pockets as some Twi'lek descended the ramp behind him. "Just checking on Miss Arani's droid. Anything I can assist you with?" He watched the two maintenance workers move around the underside of the ship. Far enough for him to relax just a little. "When exactly does Seradan expect us?"

"Six hours, roughly." Dana took a quick look around the bay, noticing Maarani's absence. "Where's our Twi'lek?"

"Oh she's at the tattoo parl…" Izan's tongue was on the verge of bleeding from how quickly he bit down on it. Dana was going to find out soon anyway, but at least the fault would be entirely on Maarani, rather than himself.

She was in disbelief for a good few minutes while she tried to make sense of what had just been learned. "Why the hell did she decide to get tattooed right before an important dinner with someone who has been very generous to us? Is this some sort of Twi'lek custom she didn't tell either of us about?"

Having drawn the attention of the two Twi'leks, she awkwardly tried to smile at them. "Sorry, she is just a frustrating person sometimes."

Izan took hold of her arm to guide her away from the others a fair way. Still not enough to speak openly, but it did spare some of the awkwardness. "Let's just worry about ourselves for now. I've ordered a very nice grey suit, and you've got a good room to look around. Besides…" He leaned in a bit closer to whisper carefully. "We barely know each other, Jedi. Good time to get acquainted, so I can call you something other than Ms Lauran."

"I've never actually been married, or had any intention of dating anyone, so Ms is somewhat redundant."

"Sure you're not just telling me you're not interested?"

Dana pressed her finger to her lips as another group of Twi'lek entered the bay. This time she was the one to urge them on in the direction of the promenade. "Bringing you along was Maarani's idea. I don't trust Czerka, and I'm going to need a bit more convincing before I really start to trust you personally. Just keep this professional and we'll get along fine."

"Fine, fine…" His head felt sore for a moment. Voices echoed around as he reached up to his temple. When it passed he looked back up to Dana, lightly prodding her shoulder for no reason. "I think I've picked up on Maarani's flirty nature. My apologies."

"Doesn't bother me. Be sensible and maybe she'll pick up on that instead. Hopefully before dinner."

* * *

Formal occasions really were the only times she didn't bring her usual jacket along, opting instead for anything with long sleeves and modest collars. They were also the only times that she willingly wore skirts or dresses, as well as whatever headgear she could find that was within reason.

The new tattoos meant being selective about the latter, as there was no point in covering them up when the end result was near perfect. A very good distraction from the round scar on her lekku that she still couldn't help but notice while wrapping a few small bead chains around her head.

Her dress was a heel length flow of aquamarine into deep sea blue from the left shoulder down. A single loose belt of larger jadestone beads sat just above her hips, the tassel of which weighed down on the right side. Ridiculous by her normal standards, but completely tame against those of several other girls from her home village alone. There wasn't any pressing need to be impressive after all.

In the sitting room she waited for Izan, who had been far more fussy over his suit. Even at that moment she could hear him trying to perfect the way it sat on his shoulders. That was all she could gather from the muffled rambling anyway.

When he finally entered the room, he was about ready to ask how he looked when Maarani's own appearance took his breath away. "Where'd you get this? Wish you'd dress in it more often!"

"Somewhere on Mirial a while back; when I was stationed there for peacekeeping. Been holding onto it until I can have it turned into a wedding dress." She picked up a matching shawl and pulled it around her. The dress itself was thin enough for her to feel colder than she preferred.

At the same time she made a cursory glance at Izan's suit, finding the lack of colour a little too bland even for her own taste. But it certainly didn't seem to bother him. "You look fine too I suppose. Certainly a change from cloaks and crap."

"You know, that's the second time a Twi'lek has shown disdain about cloaks to me today." He was still a little shaken from that encounter, but made sure that Maarani couldn't tell. "Normally I'd come extra well armed to a formal dinner, but if you think that wouldn't be for the best I'll hold off."

At that moment she retrieved a small case and opened it to him. Two very small blasters were laid out inside, good for a few shots at most. "Don't tell Dana about these. They're technically illegal in Republic space because of concealment laws, which is exactly why I picked them up on Telos. Military grade, not civilian." While he wasn't looking, she awkwardly slipped hers down between her breasts where it wouldn't be noticed. The cold metal would soon warm up enough to not be a real bother.

Izan chose the far more sensible option of slipping it into a hidden pocket of his coat, now having to pretend he didn't notice her hiding place. "You surprise me at every turn. Buying up illegal weapons before we even met."

"Never said I bought 'em." She quickly slid the case out of sight and took one last moment to ensure the blaster wasn't making contact with the dress in any way. "The tattoo artist I went to says that these people are somewhat anti-Republic. I don't know if they're pro-Empire or true neutralists yet, and until that Mandalorian friend Dana mentioned gets here I'm not taking a chance with Seradan."

"I wouldn't be trusting of them if they were pro-Republic anyway. Until they actually pick sides, they're only in it for themselves."

"Great, got any other profound insights, O wise Izan?"

"Don't eat or drink before a spacewalk?"

Maarani rolled her eyes, lightly shoving past on her way to the door. "On second thought, let's leave the profoundness to Dana."

Unlike their previous 'visit' hours earlier, they were escorted through the block as guests rather than potential threats. Many of the previously dark expressions had softened up entirely now that all signs of her Republic affiliation were gone. It still made her a little uneasy, but for the moment she was happy to have any kind of positive attention.

Surprisingly, Dana wasn't actually there before them, though Seradan didn't seem to mind anyway. The way he greeted them with an actual smile instead of his earlier constant scowl was quite weird at first.

"Come, come, the chefs are just finishing up the first meal." He nodded to the two guards escorting them, who turned to take positions either side of the doorway outside.

While the pair were distracted by looking around the small hall of a room, he made one last check on the surveillance equipment installed beforehand. "Please, take your time. Ms Lauran had some final business to attend to." After running through the routine, and receiving an all-clear from security, he made his way over to the dining table. "If you would be kind enough, I would like you at my right hand, Mr Izan, and Ms Lauran at my left."

Maarani looked to him at that moment, frowning slightly at what seemed like a jab at herself. Much as she told herself to be polite, that didn't seem like she would be getting the same treatment in return. "And what about me?"

"If you would sit to Mr Izan's right, my daughter Zariba will sit opposite you. She is a little shy around non-Twi'lek you see." He motioned to each of the chairs, spaced out so that there was a lot more room between Izan and Maarani and those opposite. Under other circumstances he would have put non-Twi'lek further down, but keeping a Jedi further than arm's length away was a very bad idea.

His daughter made her appearance mid thought, peering out from behind another door at the newcomers, and looking intent on staying there.

"Zariba, there is nothing to be afraid of. They have proven themselves to be far above the usual rabble we have over. You need not hide."

All Maarani could do was give the smallest of waves, entirely focused on not smiling in a completely creepy way, or a very silly way. Of all the possible 'extra guests', she hadn't actually expected a cute Twi'lek woman to be one of them. Her suspicions about why Seradan was so insistent about the seating were now torn up by her genuine fear about making a complete fool of herself in front of him and his family.

If she had known beforehand, and taken the time to meditate her wild emotions away for a while…

She nearly yelped as Izan elbowed her, half-grinning at her. The implication was all too obvious, and at that moment she wanted to elbow him back. At any moment Seradan could turn back around only to see them in a scuffle over the most ridiculous of reasons.

Reality finally caught up to her when Zariba actually left the dark room she had been hiding in. Her own attire was rather simple, a light coloured shirt over a darker skirt, and thin sandals that glimmered in the warm lighting. Unlike Maarani, her lekku were devoid of beads or other decoration of any kind.

Maarani quickly realized she was still waving in her awkward manner. "I'm… Tegama. And pink guy is Izan." She finally elbowed him back to give her something to break the tedium, ignoring his annoyed look completely. "Nice to meet you Zari?"

A faint blush spread across Zariba's turquoise cheeks while she moved to her father's side. Despite the friendliness, she still hid behind him a little, staring at the two with her timid eyes.

"Indeed it is a pleasure. You have a lovely daughter, Mr Kulure. Shall we sit and wait for Ms Lauran to arrive then?" Izan watched Maarani as they approached the table in case another elbowing was going to come his way. At least at the point of sitting down, it seemed that she was far too distracted with trying not to look at Zariba.

Seradan was watching her specifically at that moment. Her behaviour was very odd, even keeping in mind how she had acted at arrival. There were a few reasons that came to mind, none he was going to vocalize in front of others though. If all went to plan, Zariba would be able to tell him more than enough about Tegama herself.

The awkwardness was already weighing heavily on Maarani when she finally remembered the gift exchange. At the very least it would take up a few minutes, hopefully enough for Dana to arrive. "Oh, almost forgot…" She fished around Izan's coat pocket until she located the box in question, containing a small gemstone brooch that he claimed was legitimately purchased.

"I offer this lightning ruby brooch as a sign of friendship…" She began biting on her lip. "...and I forget this part of the speech…" In a desperate moment she looked to Izan, hoping to find some sort of inspiration. "...for accepting us into your home, after our long voyage. We are grateful."

With a soft smile, Seradan took the brooch in his open hand, looking it over briefly before passing it to Zariba. "A most generous gift. I half expected it to be of the physical nature, as most are, but I hope you will accept the one I give in return of a different kind."

Zariba had pinned the brooch to her shirt by that point, gently twisting it around so that the light reflected through the mineral deposits laced through the ruby.

"I offer you my daughter. Forgive the cliché, but she is the jewel of my life, and I hope that you all find greater happiness with her presence."

Maarani physically coughed so hard that she had to push herself away from the table until it was gone. It also provided her with an opportunity to hide the tinge her face was gathering. Seradan was either completely aware of the implications of such an offer, or painfully oblivious to them.

The next bout of coughing was faked entirely so that she had an excuse to put distance between herself and the others. She had maybe seconds to come up with an explanation for her reaction, and a reason as to why he would make such a strange offer just hours after meeting them. And the way he had phrased the offer was very odd as well…

"Ms Arani has demonstrated an aversion to clichés in the past, they irritate her to no end. I am certain she is just having an involuntary overreaction." All Izan could do was look between her and the other Twi'lek, trying very hard to keep the situation under control with more ridiculous explanations. He too had growing suspicions about the offer. Zariba was clearly a withdrawn soul, and any sane parent would never thrust her into the company of strangers for whatever reason.

Strangely, she looked otherwise unfazed by it. Had she and her father already discussed such an arrangement beforehand?

The whole situation left Seradan briefly concerned. From a supposed bodyguard, his first expectation was some sort of sarcastic remark about not being a caretaker. Her reaction was completely at odds with that and the other outcomes he had anticipated.

"I certainly did not mean to cause any harm by it, if that really is the case." Once he noticed her returning to the table, looking a little less 'sick', he softened his demeanour again. "We colonists of Sagarus III have developed a tradition of having our children guide newcomers around the place. They provide youthful insights to our culture, and learn from those they spend time with far better than men and women of my age."

Maarani kept her eyes focused in his area, still a little uncertain about looking at Zariba. Too many emotionally charged thoughts to deal with at that moment. "That sounds wonderful of course. I was just caught a little off-guard there. Certainly not for the reason Mr Izan described." She glared at him again, lifting her elbow a little in a threatening manner.

"Why, then?"

Zariba's voice made her heart melt. Such a sweet, innocent voice. For the life of her she couldn't fathom why she was having such extreme emotional swings over a girl she had just met. It had taken months for her to develop a crush on her mechanic in comparison.

"I'm a little unstable in the head. Really should've warned you, Seradan, but I was afraid you'd think I was making excuses..." It wasn't too far from the truth. But flat out saying she was coming out of a suicidal phase in front of them would kill any potential for a pleasant mood for the rest of the evening. She couldn't let her own problems screw up a much-needed breather from the distant danger in pursuit.

To her great relief, the revelation didn't drive Seradan away after all.

"I understand that it is not uncommon among soldiers in particular. You need not explain yourself further." The way she acted right after that told him there was more to her behaviour, but that explanation would come out soon enough. "Ms Lauran is taking longer than expected though. I did not realize these talks were that important to her client."

"It comes with working for that particular House. But lucrative pay is just that. Risk and reward." Izan adjusted his collar a little as he glanced at Maarani again. For now she seemed to have gotten over her fidgets. Whatever was going on in her head at that moment was beyond him.

In another odd moment, she stood back up and wandered off away from them again, this time without any actual reason. For once, spitting out half the truth wasn't making her feel any better. She had to be completely honest, just like she had been with Izan. And that had actually worked out far better than expected. "Seradan, mind if we talk in private?"

He looked to both Izan and Zariba, only mildly concerned when he left the table to guide Maarani into another room. Once there she seemed to calm down again, more to how she had acted when arriving minutes earlier.

After a few calming breaths, she finally faced him directly. "Your daughter is lovely and all, and normally I don't get this weird around lovely women, but for some reason I'm getting real giddy just being around her, and…" The fragmented thoughts began to trail off in her head. Until Dana arrived to make an assessment of her own with her psych skills, she had no idea what to make of her own weird reactions.

She took another breath before trying to continue in a more coherent manner. "I'm worried I might do something that could offend her, or you really. Am I making any sense?"

"I suppose enough to understand what you're trying to say?" It really was a lot more confusing than what he had come to expect from a grown woman. But her intentions were clear enough. Approval and respect were her first concerns. "I trust her to be responsible in her conduct, and I would prefer to extend that trust to you as well in this case. But perhaps you are getting ahead of yourself with your concerns?"

His hand soon came to rest on her shoulder, in as reassuring a manner as he could fathom. As far as unexpected developments went, this was one he could turn to his advantage with care and precision. "You are a strange woman, Tegama'Arani. But you also have a good heart, and I respect that. The rest will be up to Zariba herself."

At that moment, Maarani heard Dana arriving in the room beyond, and her inevitable yakking about getting involved with people they had to leave very soon anyway. There was no way she could bring Zariba along with the droid threat in mind.

"I appreciate that. Would be nice if I had a choice about when I leave, but that's life. Whatever happens, I will be mature and considerate." Her cheesy smile finally made a return. It really was a silly fuss, but a week to spend time with a cute girl without disapproving glares was not something anyone smart would pass up surely.

"I can ask nothing more of you then." He opened the door at long last to lead the way out, nodding with a smile to Dana and guiding her over to the reserved seat. "We were just discussing how Tegama will be spending the next week here, since you will have plenty of protection amongst our own well-trained guards."

The first meals finally arrived along with light drinks. While Dana and Maarani returned to their seats, Seradan remained standing at the head of the table, his own glass in hand. "May the goddess watch over these good souls when they continue their journey amongst the stars. Thanks to her for bringing them into our home."

He took a light sip and sat down. In the brief moment while all eyes were focused on him, he noted the subtle movement of Zariba's lekku. Full confirmation that Dana was also strong in the Force. His assumptions had gathered a lot more weight. Now all that remained was hours of scanning over the holorecordings of the entire dinner. The whole truth would be revealed soon enough.

"So, this must be the daughter you spoke of, Seradan." Dana by then had half turned to Zariba, who gave a shy smile in return. For the moment she was deliberately not looking at Maarani. "I am sorry to hear about her mother. It was a mostly similar situation with my former husband, you know. Unfaithful hearts are sadly common it seems."

"Not so much amongst Twi'lek." At that moment, Seradan glanced at Maarani instead, trying to make it clear he was not implying anything about her. "But I have learned to move on from such troubling matters. I still have my wonderful daughter after all, and you my friend have a line of work so many can only dream of."

Dana smiled as she took the first bite of the meal. Fungus wasn't unfamiliar to her non-meat tastes, but Ryloth fungus had a particular taste that was rather strong. A sharp punch to her tongue in rotted wood almost. "It is not often that I am allowed to travel offworld to handle such matters. More often, those seeking investment come to me on Coruscant."

Barely a minute after stating she would try to be mature, Maarani felt the urge to start sticking chunks of munch-fungus up her nose to distract from Dana's rather boring improvisations. She couldn't actually say anything herself, since making up a detail would probably come back to trip her up later anyway.

At that moment she noticed Zariba's lekku movements, this time directed at her. With no level of subtlety, she looked to Izan in case he had also noticed, and would blurt out something about the two of them secretly communicating. His fascination with the meal seemed to tell enough.

With the concern out of the way, she bit on her tongue while trying to recall just what movements were necessary to communicate back. It had been a very long time since she had even tried to do such actions, being completely useless while in a starfighter several metres away from everyone else. And it was nearly unheard of for outsiders to actually even understand the silent language.

Eventually she worked out something along the lines of poking fun at Dana's dull speech.

Zariba smiled and looked away from the woman to her right briefly. After a sufficient pause, she made her own remark at the expense of Izan's overly-formal suit.

After a bit of thought, Maarani agreed and not very subtly turned the attention to her own dress.

This time Zariba was quick with a response, noting that she liked the colours, and that it was uncannily similar to the colours of their skin.

The awkwardness began to set in again for Maarani. It was almost typical that her one pretty dress just happened to be like that. As if there hadn't been enough jokes played on her by whatever powers flowed around her life path.

"... She can say more herself though. Miss Arani?"

Maarani's jaw dipped a little on being caught out like that. It was entirely possible that Dana had deliberately done that to put her on edge. "Uh… I suppose it depends?" Her eyes darted to both Zariba and Izan in search of any kind of guidance. The former was just as clueless, and the latter was having too much fun watching her squirm.

"Ms Lauran was just telling me about how you came into her employ, Tegama."

That made her settle back down, if only because she had no idea on what to say. The closest she could get to the truth was that Dana was a friend of the family looking to help her after the discharge from the military, because she had no family left to rely on. Hardly something that would be good for the evening mood.

"Usual story, had a bit of a bad patch after leaving the military. Guess I got real lucky that I got hired by some legitimate business, none of that shady stuff." Her eyes settled back on Zariba, who looked back at her with concern. Somehow, she already knew there was more to it. "I haven't talked to the rest of my family since just before I joined up. No idea where they are now."

"That is truly unfortunate, then. Hostility amongst loved ones is the worst kind." Seradan looked between the other two Twi'lek for a few moments. He didn't need Zariba's insight to recognize that it was a much sadder matter for Maarani. Something that could be invaluable for twisting her loyalty to him if handled with precision.

Another glance was exchanged between Maarani and Izan shortly after. She could tell he was starting to catch on as well, perhaps more than Seradan was. For the moment it didn't bother her. "Said it best yourself, you learn to move on. And now I've found good company again." She glanced back at Zariba one last time, this time smiling in a very genuine way.


	22. Heroes and Wookiees

Maarani was too tired, and intoxicated, to stay longer by the end of the night. Izan was accustomed to drinking far more than whatever had been served, and Dana had her own Jedi metabolism to keep her going without a flinch.

Her stomach was in a poor state, and by morning her head would be worse.

Worst of all was her sudden inability to actually sleep. A hour long nap between getting chased off by droids and arriving at the station had been so easy in comparison.

A few random thoughts began to enter her mind as she laid herself out across the bed with a sickly groan. Most of which involved punching Izan for 'encouraging' her to drink far more than she really should have. Some were about getting to meet Yuthura, and explaining why she had identical tattoos in a very drunken manner.

At some point she actually drifted off into sleep. Buried memories from the past few years began to resurface, prompted by the long conversations just earlier. The green bloodbath that had been her peacekeeping mission on Mirial. Three long weeks of constant assault by the Sith on the Mandalorian border. Her ground deployment during the first Battle of Sarka, where she began making notches on her belt for every kill…

"Maarani…"

Every one of her recollections were torn away in an instant, leaving a cold feeling that lingered on her senses. It was a sensation she felt had been experienced before, very recently. And yet she couldn't recall such an event.

Her dream vision finally returned, taking on the appearance of a desolate brown world. It appeared as if great winds were sweeping across the surface. Sapping the very form of every dead plant and barren rock in its path.

In a plume of grey smoke, what looked to be a copy of herself appeared right before her. The defining difference were the three tone markings on her face and lekku. Black, grey and white.

"She is not for you, Maarani. Your mate has been chosen. Do not pursue Zariba."

Of all things she could feel at that moment, Maarani was quite offended by the blunt statement. "Aside from being pretty presumptuous, you've got a lot of nerve… Whatever you are… Vision thing, me?" It didn't seem to faze her 'other' self in the slightest, which only annoyed her more. "What is it with everyone getting in my head and spouting random crap at me? I don't give a shit about destiny!"

That did get a reaction from the apparition, if only a minor one. "I have given you my warning, Maarani. Pursue Zariba and you will meet your end. You must wait until the time is right to save your mate from the darkness. Balance demands this occur."

"Yeah, well Balance can stuff it!"

The dark look on the Lady of Balance's face deepened further. For a moment, the black markings glowed. "If you choose that path, good people will begin to die at the hands of bad ones until you return to Balance. Maybe after the first, you will be more receptive…"

Maarani was ready to make an obscene gesture at her departure when a different thought prompted her to speak out instead. "Who is my 'mate' then? If you really are some all-powerful thing-"

"Azera Vass is her name."

It was the kind of directness that she actually wanted, instead of all the cryptic crap that had been thrown around so far. But at the same time, it was an imaginary version of herself talking through a alcohol-induced dream about destiny and other mystical things she had no belief in.

"Great, I'll look her up next time I'm on Coruscant. For now, I'm going to spend however much time I want with Zariba, because this is just some sort of subconscious bullshit telling me-"

It was torn away again with the same level of abruptness. This time, the result was waking up in a literal cold sweat, chilling beads running down her face and lekku while she sat there, taking deep breaths. Her stomach had settled by then, and there was a faint pain at the back of her head. A quick glance at the nearest clock showed several hours had passed.

"Again…?"

Her head fell back to the pillow with another sick groan. Half of what had happened in the vision-dream she had already blanked on, and the rest quickly seemed more and more incomprehensible by the minute.

Being restricted to sonic showering did little to alleviate her confusion or headache. Something she already missed from Coruscant and other planet-based accommodation.

The artificial night cycle did present its own advantage when she left her quarters. Back to her normal outfit, she had plenty of freedom to wander around the quiet corridors and onto the main promenade without the noise of bustling crowds to further aggravate her headache.

Now that she had time to appreciate the surroundings, it actually began to remind her quite a bit of the larger cities on Ryloth. Open air gardens and nurseries for plants and fungi, a notable amount of game parlours and clubs, with a very wide variety of native and alien restaurants.

A tea shop that occupied one of the corner spots was open at that very early hour. More surprisingly, there was already a customer sitting just outside. Aiyek of all people.

With a wave to Maarani, Aiyek herself tilted her head back to the shop owner, who brought a second cup out for the new arrival. "Fun night I take it?"

Maarani was slow to sit in case the extra movement alone would set off her headache. Lifting the teacup was equally slow, but once at her lips it was rather easy to drink. Whatever it contained seemed to ease the pain initially at least, which was enough for her to be content with.

"Don't sit next to a heavy drinker. Ever." She took a good few more sips before placing it down at last. The headace was definitely going to come back later and kick her ass to oblivion, but that was still a problem for later. "Tats went over well by the way, I think. Really do love how they came out."

Aiyek shrugged in a very nonchalant way as she took a few sips from her own cup. "It's way more reliable than paint and canvas, at least as far as freelance income goes. Never liked the idea of working solely for one Alderaan House or whatever."

"Don't blame you. Found a pretty nice place to settle on as well." Maarani took a longer sip now that the tea had cooled a bit. Definitely a brew of native origin. "I might just try and come back this way sometime, when I'm done with the contract."

There wasn't anything that could really stop her from coming back as a Jedi, unless of course the station itself ended up in Sith hands.

Silence set in for a while after. Maarani's headache had waned significantly in that time, enough for her to sit up comfortably at last. "Good stuff this. So much better than the human style they always have at mess halls."

A shrug followed from Aiyek, who by then had finished hers. "I got used to it after a while, colony-hopper upbringing. Wouldn't judge human tea by whatever the military get in dried bricks." She nodded her head to one of the gardens across the promenade. "Supplied right from in there, or the colony itself. Not too hard to notice the difference between them."

She leaned to her right upon noticing some familiar faces walking out onto the promenade. "Huh, Mission's up early."

Yet again, Maarani couldn't help tensing up, this time for entirely different reasons. The first thought in her head was obviously that Aiyek was referring to Mission Vao of all people. Even when considering that it was a Twi'lek station, it was so hard to believe that it really was the case.

With a lick of her lips, she twisted her head around in the least subtle of ways. A blue Twi'lek woman in her forties was indeed making her way down towards the business sector of the station, accompanied by a towering Wookiee.

Before the pair noticed, she twisted back around and stared into her cup. "The one time I'll get to meet her, and I'm stuck as just another hired gun. Two months ago I was still a hotshot pilot…" She tightened her lips and sat back up with a sigh before she actually became emotional about the realization. "Life sucks sometimes."

Aiyek reached her hand out across the table to offer reassurance, putting on her best smile. "Sweetie, I've talked with her, she's not going to care about your line of work. Just find a good moment to go say hello."

"Oh yeah, it'll be a great conversation while Zaraban stares down at me, the little Twi'lek shivering in fear."

"Zaalbar."

Maarani had to pause and think about what she had just said before it occurred to her. "Why did I say Zaraban?" By the time she took another look around, they had gone out of sight completely. "Bad idea to bother them at this hour anyway. Wonder what they're doing here though."

"Oh, they're the main suppliers for the colony. Wouldn't be nearly as far along or have a space station without them. Cuts down on the bad faces in my parlour as well." She twisted her head around as the initial wave of lights flickered on. "Waking cycle is starting, gotta get the place ready." She lifted a few credit coins out of her pocket onto the table, shrugging as they scattered across the surface.

With little else to do at that moment, Maarani began pushing them all back into a neat pile for the shop owner to collect. "Thanks for the chat, and tea. I might just go back to sleep."

She went through the rest of the cup more readily since it had cooled down in the meantime, and was about to leave when someone else decided to sit at her table.

"You following me Zariba?" A smile cracked as she noted her confusion. Even in the dim light, she was hopelessly adorable to look at. "Anything I can do before I pass out again?"

Zariba glanced around rather nervously before leaning forward, hands tightly clasped together. "You didn't look well last night. Papa was worried when you left early." The concern was quite plain in her eyes as she reached across the table a bit more, slowly unclasping her hands.

It took a bit for Maarani to notice. Of course, she would simply blame it on her fading ability to concentrate, when the answer was clear enough. "I'll be fine when I sleep this off. Just been a long while since I last attended any sort of proper dinner. Sarkans parties are actually a bit rubbish."

A chuckle from herself followed, though the humour of it seemed to be lost on Zariba. Trying to explain anything about the Sarkans would only make it even more awkward.

"Will you be okay alone?"

Maarani cracked a small smile at that, her eyes falling to the table briefly. "Yes, I've been through a lot worse before. Appreciate the concern though." She slid her tongue along her lips almost unknowingly as she pictured it for a few moments. The reality of what would happen caught up shortly after. "Not sure you'd want to see me throwing up. So, maybe we should wait until I'm in real good shape before thinking about any of that."

Again, the attempts at being lighthearted didn't quite seem to get through to her. But then on the surface, they were almost polar opposites. Withdrawn and a little too open.

She noticed activity at the counter. A fresh cup had been placed there by the tea maker himself, apparently for Zariba. A good opportunity to do something that wouldn't lead to more awkwardness. "I'll bring it over, don't you worry." Right as she was about to get up, the other Twi'lek shook her head.

"No need." Without even turning her head, Zariba reached her hand out to the cup. It lifted off the counter and floated over to her, settling perfectly into her fingertips for her to set on the table. Not even the tiniest spill had been made.

It took a few good seconds for Maarani to realize what she had just seen. "You can use the Force?"

Zariba nodded while taking a small sip from her cup, placing it down again to let it settle a while longer. "Papa came here to hide me from the child snatchers. He said I should explore my gift at my own pace. That I shouldn't be another kind of slave because the universe made me special."

"I don't know if I'd call the Jedi slavers…" It had suddenly become a very tricky situation for Maarani to discuss. Of course she had heard of all the stories about how the Jedi filled their ranks before the civil war, when the Order followed very strict traditions and questionable methods. But it had been widely circulated that the Jedi would no longer use such methods of recruitment…

Once again, Zariba shook her head. "Not the Jedi, the _Sesk'nabsilai_."

That really threw Maarani off for a while. It was a name she had only heard once in her life. Back on Ryloth, by some strangers who were almost arguing with her mother. There had also been several mentions of 'Jedi' thrown back at them by her. Even with all that in mind, her understanding was flimsy at best.

"I grew up in a Jedi family, so I don't really know about whatever religious crap goes on back home. But I can't argue with wanting freedom of choice."

"You don't have the gift then?"

Maarani let out a long sigh and took a deep sip from her cup. The looming headache was starting to seep back in. And there was now a significant discovery to share with Dana before she passed out. And worst of all, she had no idea on what the correct answer was to her question. There was at least a good answer to use.

"No, odd one out I guess. But who really needs fancy powers?" She did her best to force a smile, her teeth starting to grate from the faint throbs of pain seeping up through her lekku. "I'm kidding, if you didn't catch on. Maybe you can show me some more Force stuff when I wake up?"

This time she actually did leave her chair, circling around to lightly kiss Zariba's cheek before finishing off the rest of the tea. The soft smile it brought on at last was heart melting to see. "Should smile more, really do have a special feeling about you." As soon as the cup was placed back down, she hurried back in the direction of her room to catch Dana before passing out.

Zariba watched her leave, remaining rather motionless in her seat. When no-one else was around, she slowly turned to one of the small cameras observing the shop, again using the tips of her lekku to communicate.

 _She's hiding something big, just as you said. What next?_

After a pause, the micro-communicator concealed underneath her headdress quietly flickered into activity.

" _Continue to court her, avoid using your persuasion powers. Stay away from the Jedi and the Zeltron. And please, above all else, be careful._ "

 _Of course father. She won't discover anything._

* * *

"Yes I know it's really suspicious, but that's why I keep you around Z."

"Raaargh!"

Mission shook her head at his failure to appreciate the joke. "We've known each other for close to forty years. Of course you're more than a bodyguard." She felt a lot safer with him around all the same. An anonymous message sent right to her room with the request of a secret meeting away from station surveillance felt just as ominous as it sounded when she described it to him.

The room chosen by their mysterious contact appeared deserted when they first arrived. It had apparently been used as storage in recent years for whatever furniture that the resident Twi'lek didn't want to ship back to the planet. Something neither of them really cared for as far as neatness went.

After a quick sniff of the stale air, he motioned his head towards one of the passageways to their left. His hand moved to take hold of his sword while he snarled at whomever was waiting in the darkness for them.

"Stay your blade, Chieftain Zaalbar."

Dana slowly approached the two, holding her suit open to reveal the lightsaber carried to them only. "I would have asked one of your old friends to arrange this meeting, but there aren't many left amongst the Jedi."

With a wave of her hand, she lifted three chairs off a dusty table and set them down, removing the dust on them with a small gust of wind. It was only after she sat down herself that they seemed willing to let their guard down just a little.

"Funny, you guys haven't checked in much. Revan had a pretty good reason from what I hear." Mission looked to Zaalbar briefly before taking a seat, her twin blasters sitting in an easy draw position. "Problem being that it wasn't another Jedi who told me that. What ended the silence?"

"Believe it or not, a fan of yours, Miss Vao." Dana bit on her lip right after that. The businesswoman mannerisms were starting to overtake her natural ones. "We're travelling incognito to hide from HK-50's and the Sith. To maintain the disguise, I would appreciate your help with engaging in fake negotiations. Just for the next five to eight days."

Her eyes moved between both, lingering longer on the Wookiee. It was a lot harder to get a good read on the species as a whole, and he in particular had quite the stern look.

Mission's right hand moved from her blaster to the side of her head as she gave the proposal some thought. Rather underwhelming as far as requests from the Jedi went.

"Deal fell through last night, and we were going to head back to HQ tomorrow…" She glanced up at Zaalbar briefly, who shrugged in response. The decision was going to be hers as it usually was. "I suppose eight days isn't too bad. But, what's this about a fan again?"

A shuddering sigh went through Dana's lips. There had never been a promise to help with fulfilling Maarani's aspirations, and thus no legitimate reason for guilt about interfering with that. It was just a really bad time to be a gushing young girl when she was meant to have some semblance of actually being a trained fighter.

"Tegama'Arani, a rather unpredictable Twi'lek. Apparently she looks up to you because of your 'fun' adventures with Revan and company. I'm afraid she's been through a lot of hardship as of late, which hasn't helped her eccentricities. Might be better to avoid a meeting for now."

"Why? I've had half the Twi'lek population of the galaxy say how much they've wanted to meet me at this point. Maybe she could use some tips on fighting Sith and droids."

"We don't want her fighting them, Mission." Dana's next breath was rather more tense. The web of conspiracy was being stretched to encompass those completely outside the Jedi now. She still hated having to do it, even for Maarani's sake.

With another cautionary glance, she pulled her chair closer and leaned forward. "You know what fallen Jedi are like. Maarani would be ten times worse if she ends up that way. If you do meet her, please do not encourage her to fight the Sith in any way."

"Fine, fine." Mission's hand went back to her side as she prepared to get up. "Some tag-along who may ask me for an autograph while we blabber on for a week about nothing." Once on her feet, she adjusted her vest again, taking a moment to dust that off as well. "Don't suppose there's any potential for payment in this? Already taken a loss with that failed deal."

Dana rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I'm the actual businesswoman here y'know. Also that get-up is pretty silly. Has to be said. Right Z?"

Zaalbar nodded with a small gruff.

With a sigh of her own, Mission waved away the pad Dana was removing from her pocket. "For old times sake. Just let us know whenever you want to start the chit-chat and we'll be there. Same for Tegama."

This time, Dana was able to smile. At least something positive had come from the otherwise dry meeting. "Everything else I said aside, it really would mean a lot to her. In the meantime, I'll try and get the Council to catch you up when this is over."

"We appreciate that. Been a long time since we heard from anyone other than Carth." She outstretched her hand to Dana at that. "See you tomorrow then, uh…"

"Dana Lauran." Dana took hold of her hand warmly. It was rather like shaking Maarani's hand, save for the fact that Mission's wasn't quite as smooth. And the expression accompanying it was natural, rather than some ridiculous grin or begrudging frown.

When the hold broke, she looked up to Zaalbar and nodded her head as a further show of respect. "Honored to meet you both."

"Raaargh."

"Quite. I suggest heading back the way you came, chat about waiting around for a no-show. I've got my own secret Jedi tunnel to crawl through." Dana nodded her head back to the entryway she had emerged from. "Nice to meet you two."

* * *

The panel in her room that covered the tunnel in question clammered onto the floor when kicked out. In frustration at the cramped environment, she had forgotten to ease it down in case the noise attracted unwanted attention.

"What the hell?"

While clambering out, Dana looked around in a spot of panic before realizing Maarani was in the room already. The sound of a loud thud mixed in with some items being knocked off a shelf confirmed as much.

"Easy, just me Teegs." Once free of the tunnel, she gripped onto the nearby armchair to push herself back up. From there, she could see Maarani rolling around amongst some of the objects she had collided with while leaving the lounge. None had left any urgent bruises or cuts at least.

"Has Izan gotten on your nerves already? You could have simply asked for a room swap."

Maarani picked herself back up from the mess after a few attempts. Having to wait for Dana had given her too much time to think. And her head was spinning from the ever-growing headache that was taking root. A few incoherent mumbles escaped until she sat herself back down on the lounge.

"Dana… I think my people are beyond help."

Having just met with a very nice Twi'lek, Dana was completely confused by the sudden turnaround. "What are you talking about Teegs? Just yesterday you were saying they're all nice people."

It was a long minute before Maarani worked up the strength to actually respond. So many little details she had just dismissed before, all now thrust together into a big mess of all-around bad.

"The Hutts have enslaved us for so long, we've started doing it to each other. It's become a cultural thing…" She twisted her head around to look at the Jedi directly. There was a very small tear starting to well up in her left eye. "Zariba is a Force user. And Seradan brought her here so she wouldn't be taken away. By other Twi'leks. Just like your lot used to do with the whole galaxy."

Dana felt her heart thud heavily. Very distant memories were being stirred. Buried anger, hatred, distrust. "Teegs, what your people do on your homeworld is their business. The Jedi have always had bigger issues than the Hutts to deal with, whatever effect they might be having..."

Maarani leapt up from her seat. "Stop with the bullshit!"

In a tense moment she immediately came to regret, Dana reached for her lightsaber. "Tegama, I don't make policies of the Republic, or the Jedi. I completely agree that slavery and suppression of the right to choose is wrong-"

"Don't you dare give me that! I know for a fact that if I told the Jedi Council that I wanted to slaughter every last Hutt I came across, they'd shut me down immediately! They wouldn't care if it was to free my people from a life of slavery that they've already started imposing on themselves!"

Dana took a shuddering breath. Even with the mental barriers in place, she could feel the anger growing within Maarani. If she didn't act immediately…

"Sleep it off Tegama. That's the last of the alcohol talking. I'm going to have a talk with Izan."

Maarani took a threatening step forward, lifting her hands up to physically shove Dana back. "Is it the alcohol? Or is it something to do with being an empath so dangerous I have to be kept away from the other Jedi?" Hints of a smile tugged at her mouth as she saw the shock on Dana's face. One secret was out now.

"Teegs… Didn't your father tell you?"

"Tell me what? In the five or six times during my life that he was around before getting butchered, what didn't he tell me?"

Another sigh came from Dana. She only knew part of the whole matter, just enough to be aware of what had to be kept secret for a while longer. Having one less point to hide would ease the tension at the very least.

"From what I've been told, he had empathic abilities, and we think you inherited that from him. That's why you go through wild mood swings, like this." When Maarani finally began to lower her arms, she reached across to try and calm her down further. "Would you really prefer having to learn how to use the Force and keep your emotions in check at the same time? They didn't make you learn space and atmospheric combat at the same time back in your pilot days surely."

Maarani's jaw began to relax at last. Her teeth were sore from how tightly she had been biting down, throbbing just as hard as the pain in the rest of her head. Further down towards her heart, the icy feeling that had formed without her initially noticing faded as well. Another tear emerged, this time from her right eye.

Weakness spread throughout her body as she threw herself at Dana, trying to hold her as closely as possible. "I want it to stop. It's all screwed up."

Dana slipped her arms around the Twi'lek in turn. When she spoke, it was with a subtle soothing effect that would help her rest. "I know Teegs. We can't fix your emotional instability in a day, or the slavery in a week. Or the Sith in a month." When Maarani began to drift off, she carried her back over to the lounge and gently laid her down.

For a moment, Dana looked at the hand she had held over the chest. Her fingertips were definitely colder than normal.

The Council had told her to abort the whole exercise immediately if anything like that happened…

"Tegama, I promise that I will do whatever it takes to see you become a Jedi Knight. I promise to look for a way to save Masaka from the Sith, to help you find Yuthura, and to get you to Felucia sometime." She moved over to Maarani's side as her eyes fluttered shut, slowly resting on one knee while she leaned closer. "Tomorrow, we begin your training, for real. After you get to meet Mission Vao."

She gently stroked her hand across the fevered head. Until that moment, she hadn't actually taken much notice of her tattoos. They had a certain decorative appeal in the patterning certainly, and not being in any particular image meant they didn't draw attention.

Up close, they stirred a sense of familiarity. Something the other Jedi would probably recognize. Something she was missing.

"Remember the Jedi Code, Tegama. Hold to it, and you will find the peace you seek."

She brought her other knee down, settling into her meditative posture so that she could properly focus on the meaning behind the words. Hopefully enough to cleanse herself of the darkness that had touched her.

"I am a Jedi, defender of the Republic.

A guardian of peace, executor of justice.

My mind remains free of burdens, and of darkness.

My lightsaber is my life, my badge, my legacy.

I am one with the Force, now and beyond death.

The wail of the innocent shall never again fall on deaf ears…"


	23. Matters of Bureaucracy

Coruscant looked quite nice at that hour. A brilliant spectrum of red-into-blue sky between the many towers surrounding the command centre. Quite a good view from the Grand Admiral's office, even for Utan in his small stature.

The doors behind him opened as the man himself entered at last. He turned away from the window at last to greet the Admiral properly. "The Council sends its gratitude for your time."

"Not at all friend. Please, make yourself comfortable." Pettadal gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk while moving to his own. Several datapads had been arranged neatly before him, which he began to look through after placing his drink down.

After a quick glance through, he handed two of them over to Utan. "Official records for Flight Lieutenant Commander Omena Rami, and Flight Lieutenant Tegama'Arani. The rest of the requested files are here when you wish to discuss them as well."

He watched as Utan scanned through both datapads at an impressive speed. Seventeen years of service between the two had added up to a lot of information, even ignoring the battles and other assignments they had served together in. Only one of those assignments had been withheld from the provided records by the intelligence department.

"Information on the Mirialan deployment redacted?"

Pettadal nodded sagely. He knew only a fraction of what had happened there, but it was enough to agree with the decision. "Given the nature of the operation, and the tragedy that befell Blue Squadron on Sarka, we aren't ready to release those particular files. Not even to the Jedi I am afraid."

There was no objection from Utan. They had far more to hide from the rest of the Republic about Maarani herself after all. And anything they did need to know could be learned through other sources if it proved necessary.

"I understand completely, Admiral." As he scanned through the records further, reaching the psychiatric evaluations, a bad trend began to emerge. Starting from the first Battle of Sarka, spiking right after Mirial, and ending after the second Battle of Sarka was a long decline of depressive tendencies. Koor really had seen Maarani at her absolute worst in that long month.

To his further disappointment, there was nothing that leapt out as the answer he had been searching for when making the request to begin with.

When did the HK droids begin their surveillance of her?

"I was quite shocked when I was told that one of our ace pilots was known to have suicidal tendencies, but still received flight clearance for that last engagement. However desperate the situation might have been. I suppose if it were not for Master Koor, we would have lost yet another pilot that day."

A small grunt was the only response Utan made. There was little else of relevance in the file, aside from a notably long list of minor infractions, but nothing that made any mention of a particular incident or encounter that would make her a long-term target for capture. Even the Sith knew nothing about her until the encounter with Kiarna.

"She is doing well with the Jedi, you may be pleased to hear. Her behaviour has been described as wild, but certainly not self-destructive anymore."

He placed Maarani's pad back on the table and focused all of his attention on the rest of Omena's file. Her training was certainly more extensive, as she had enlisted before any kind of open warfare had begun. And she had been posted at a lot of outreaching stations and planets before being moved into Blue Squadron. Again, none stood out as being of any particular importance to the Sith. No clue as to what they had searched for in her mind.

This time, Pettadal cleared his throat before making comment on the record. "I will be visiting her as soon as she has recovered from surgery. It was very good of you all to rush to her rescue as fast as you did upon receiving that intel."

"Master Pala believes the Sith had no further use for her. Resistance on their part was weak. Trying to rescue her immediately after capture would have been far more costly in lives and resources." Utan placed her datapad down on the table as well, seeing no further need to look through her personal record as well. "It appears that neither record contained what I came looking for. An unfortunate result."

"Indeed it is then." Pettadal exchanged the two pads for the other five, laying them out in the same order the request had listed them in. "I have moved some of our forces away from the Mandalorian front to a nearby nebula as was suggested. I suppose we have to wait for the Sith to actually resume their assault to see if that woman was telling the truth or not."

"Jayden Mires believed it enough to convince Mandalore the Steadfast, not an easy task by any measurement. I do not agree at all with placing trust in the word of a Sith, but as you put it…." Utan's gaze moved to the star chart covering all of the attack fronts. Not a single battle had occurred since Omena's capture. A very worrying sign indeed.

The rest of the pads detailed all manner of troop movement and Jedi deployment across the galaxy, something he was still tirelessly working on. The attack on Telos was only going to make the job much harder, as it was already dangerous enough to deploy forces outside their defensive lines.

Pettadal took the opportunity to continue with his drink in the meantime. So many requests from admirals and generals across the front for more ships and fighters. At best, he could fulfill a tenth of those requests. The stress was already taking its toll, and even the company of a long time friend could only do so much in the way of distracting from the ever-growing task.

Little was said for a long hour after that. Without actual battles to co-ordinate around, it was just a matter of ensuring every base and planet had the right amount of ships, troops and Jedi allocated to its defence. About as dry a task as either of them could face, but incredibly crucial in regards to the result.

Another two hours passed by before they were done. Night had come to that part of Coruscant, and Utan had a lot of new matters to attend to before the next dawn.

"Again, our gratitude for your time, Admiral. We can only hope that this withdrawal from the battle does not mean they are ready to make a direct strike."

"Knowing Darth Lasidia and General Morgak, I think that hope is the only thing we have left." Pettadal rubbed around his chin right after. The solemn mood of the late afternoon had gotten to him more than expected. "We will continue to fight in any case. Nothing is certain after all."

Utan nodded slightly on his way out, hands clasped behind his back. "Perhaps."

His return to the temple was swift. A brief message to Master Venu Kasua had been placed during transit, and by the time of his arrival, she was waiting in the landing bay to meet him as requested.

She waited patiently for him to exit the vehicle and approach, despite the uncomfortably discreet way in which they were supposed to meet. It was all too clear that more private conversations were about to be had.

"Master Kasua, I am about to ask of you a great many things. The matter in regard to my requests is sensitive, and considered too secure by the Republic military to release even to the Jedi Council. Your padawan, Carmen, cannot be involved in this matter at all. Will you proceed?"

Venu had to look away from him in thought. Her assumption had been entirely correct, and already she had an impression of who was involved in the matter. "It's to do with that Twi'lek girl, isn't it? The one the Council told us was too dangerous to bring here for the funeral. The same girl that you all let my padawan spend time with, and still refuse to provide any answers about."

"Only a select few outside the Council have been told the entirety of the situation for her protection from the Sith. And, we confirmed she was no longer a danger when she came here three weeks ago." Utan waited until the Mirialan was looking back at him again before proceeding on. "Tegama's fighter group, Blue Squadron, was deployed on Mirial right before her meeting with Master Elira. Records of that deployment have been classified. Something happened there that badly damaged Tegama's psyche."

A sigh of annoyance followed from Venu as she began walking away. A spy mission on her own people, behind the backs of the Republic military that they were supposed to be working closely with. More secrets hidden away.

She only got a few steps out before she recognized the anger, and suppressed it. "You are certain it was not damaged by seeing her sister turn into a Sith Lord? I cannot blame her for not withstanding that kind of trauma."

"Venu, she was never evaluated after that incident. It may have been a tipping point after something just as destructive. We must uncover what happened on your homeworld to cause such a change." When it failed to persuade her fully, Utan turned to the other angle. One he didn't like having to use at all. "It was not just the military that concealed those events from us for a reason. Your government, your people have concealed it. Perhaps even your old associates…"

For a brief moment, dark thoughts drifted through the depths of her mind. When she turned back to him at last, it was a very cold expression indeed.

"We agreed that my past with Darth Malak was never to be spoken of again. And as far as I am aware, all of my 'former associates' are dead, or rejoined the Jedi as I did."

Utan's gaze became a glare at that moment. "Where parents go, children will follow. I am going to Mirial to uncover the truth, but it will be your choice to accompany me or otherwise. Consider your duty as the eldest of your people amongst the Jedi."

She couldn't make herself turn away a third time. In that case, it would be to conceal the tear rolling down the line of tattoos left of her nose. "I will accompany you, and do what I can. But you had damn well ensure that Carmen is left out of this, whatever we find in the end."

"You have my word on that."

With a sage nod, Venu pulled her hood up over her head, a very rare occurrence in the temple grounds. "I need a few minutes to prepare then, if you intend to leave tonight. If this ends up being for nothing…"

"I doubt that. Tegama is far too important to ignore something of this magnitude. Go, inform your padawan of your departure. I will be here when you are ready."

* * *

Torbut was passing by the many meditation rooms in the central spire, looking to find an unoccupied one to begin his own session when he sensed Utan's approach. As he drew closer, a feeling of concern grew stronger. It was unlike him to be so fast in his step.

When he did finally enter the same corridor, the Chiss moved towards the centre to avoid any potential disturbance of the others. "What has troubled you Master Utan?"

Utan himself waved his hand to the side as he recovered from the brisk walk. "A matter of secrecy has come to my attention. Master Kasua will be accompanying me to Mirial immediately to investigate." Once he was properly composed again, he straightened his attire and looked up to Torbut properly. "It directly involves Tegama's deployment there. If you could ask Master Lauran to talk with her directly…"

"I think I can come up with a way to work that into the false business exchanges. Knight Noz-Bay is due to arrive in a few hours to represent House Rist. But what should I tell Master Pala?"

"When she returns, simply inform her of my whereabouts. I do not know what we will find on Mirial, but I do know for a fact that it had terrible consequences for that young woman. It cannot be delayed."

Torbut nodded with a low hum, running through the instructions again to ensure he retained them all. The sudden spike of activity after two weeks of relative calm was becoming very noticeable. "I wish you luck in your investigation then. I will try and keep the resources here available to you throughout."

"I appreciate that greatly, thank you. If you can register the use of one of the long range ships when possible, that will do." Utan left at that without further remark, encountering no-one else in his return to the landing bay. An ideal discreet departure.

* * *

Venu found Carmen lying on her bed, reading from a pad and apparently finding the contents amusing. That changed in a near instant as she entered the room. Something no amount of gesturing could prevent. And she didn't want to say anything until the door was closed, in case other padawans would happen to pass by.

In the brief period of confusion, Carmen tossed the pad aside and hurriedly fixed her hair for the possibility that she was being summoned. "What's happening Master?"

"Nothing directly involving you. Relax." Venu pulled the desk chair over so that she could sit for the precious few minutes she had. "I am returning to the homeworld immediately, possibly for several weeks. You will have to remain here unfortunately."

Carmen nodded silently. There was no point in asking why when it was quite clear the reasons were set above her.

With the initial difficulty out of the way, Venu had a moment to prepare for the harder subject that followed.

"Carmen, all I can say is that Tegama's past is involved, and it may not be good. Any significant distraction could jeopardize the end of your training, and I bring that up because of your rather fast friendship with her." She kept her best look of confidence on throughout. What mattered most was that her padawan did not trip up after such a solid commitment to learning the Jedi ways for all the years she had been training her in.

"I'll be fine. Gonna be months before she comes back here anyway, right? I'll be knighted by then." It wasn't at all hard to work out that her master had concerns, but at that point they seemed just a little excessive. That was part of how the relationship worked after all, so she made no actual comment on that.

Venu needed a bit longer to affirm it herself. When it finally sank in, she nodded and stood back up. "I am trusting you to keep to the schedule in my absence then. And if anything urgent arises, ask Master Torbut to contact me. It is more than likely I will be in secured meetings for most of my time there."

"What's going to happen around here? All the action is out there on Telos and such."

A bemused smile formed as Venu reached her hand to Carmen's shoulder. "You will have plenty to do in a few months. Just remember that I am counting on you to be a good example for the other padawans."

She departed shortly after to minimize any impact her departure would have on either of them. The few items that she would need back home, above all her lightsaber, were contained in a small bag that she readily carried in one hand. And just as described, she returned to the landing bay to see Utan waiting beside the ship they were to depart in.

"It will be a few days travel at the very least. The vessel is well equipped for our journey." He climbed up into the ship, taking the pilot's seat on the left.

Venu made one last check of her belongings as she approached, lifting the bag up into the cockpit first to ensure it wouldn't get in the way. "We need to land at least once a day. I very much despise having to do prayer while in the confines of a small ship."

"Then we will find places to land on the way. The speed at which we get to Mirial is not critical, but it is not irrelevant either."

With that in mind, she tugged her dress up as best she could and clambered into the other seat. Even though her headdress was modest, she couldn't stand wearing it for more than a few seconds once the canopy had been deployed. It landed somewhere in the rear compartment after being tossed over her shoulder with a sigh of frustration.

"Better be worth this and accusing my people of withholding information the way you did."

Utan's gaze settled on the flight controls as they took off. There was never a moment's doubt about what they were embarking on. "For all we have invested in Tegama, it is worth it. No matter the result. It is simply unfortunate that it happens to involve your people." Not another word was spoken between them following that.

Jedi relied on mutual trust, and there was little between them.

* * *

Through her own personalized pair of electrobinoculars, Chief Rinazan watched the two Jedi make a swift departure from the planet. It brought on a rare smile from her usual scowling expression. The plan had worked as intended.

As usual, her office was dampened to outside observation, and everyone else in the Intelligence wing was pre-occupied with drawing up new plans for counteracting the next Sith advance. She had more than enough time to make the planned report of her success.

Behind one of the wall panels, she kept a small communication screen that had the advantage of being virtually invisible to the scanners. They were designed to look for holographic signatures.

The screen flickered on, a figure in a grey hood displayed. A deep voice began speaking to her in a very obscure language, soft and mysterious in tone.

"Utan's curiosity won out, just as you predicted. Soon enough, the Jedi will learn of the False One's atrocities, and cast her out of their protection."

The hooded figure spoke again, this time at length.

When he was done, Rinazan nodded. "The Following infiltrated the ranks of the HK droids. It is possible they turned our own spy as well; it has failed to report in thus far."

Another exchange came from the figure, this time in a tone of distrust.

"Better that the droids destroy it on suspicion of being a Following spy, rather than one of our own." She briefly glanced over her shoulder. For a moment, there was a sensation of being observed, despite the impossible nature of that. When it passed, she turned back to the screen again. "They will lead us to the False One's mate eventually, of that you can be assured. My agents are already more than eager to dispatch the White Terror. Better that they assume that is their only purpose in the assassination, no?"

The other voice returned to a more neutral tone, this time nearly whispering his instructions.

"We do not believe the Sith intend to involve themselves thus far. Darth Lasidia has vanished, and her second and military advisor have withdrawn to unknown space. Our only enemy at this moment is the Following."

The figure nodded at last, whispering a farewell before terminating the communication.

Rinazan carefully replaced the panel and returned to her desk, preparing some final assignments to be delivered before departing her office.

As soon as she left, the eyeball observing her from a small gap in the window shutters crawled back up to its master, replaying the entire exchange in a tiny holographic display for him.

Zimorr could 'see' the projection thanks to his training of course, one of many secrets the Luka Sene had so much difficulty in keeping hidden. His usual smug attitude had quickly faded away as he heard more and more of the recording.

"Azera, the mate of another woman…" The thought of anyone else trying to claim her was upsetting enough. But being taken by someone who simply wouldn't be able to protect her from all the dangers of the galaxy…

Before his anger grew too much, he picked the eyeball up and carefully planted it back into his socket, to ensure he didn't accidentally crush it in a fit of rage. He had never learned how to control such outbursts, but at that moment he didn't want to contain them.

Too many others were trying to control his soulmate. More importantly, they were going to try and keep her from him. That he simply could never allow.

He removed the long-range communicator hidden inside his coat and set it down on his knee. "Besh Leader; change of plan. Kill anyone who tries to harm my woman. Keep that Tegama person away from her at any cost, or I will destroy you all piece by piece. That is the new price of my assistance."

As soon as the message was delivered, he snatched the communicator off his knee, nearly crushing it as the rage continued to build.

He needed to find somewhere to unleash it. Somewhere in the depths of Coruscant, filled with scum that no-one would miss. People that deserved to have their eyes torn out just for looking at him the wrong way.

In a single motion, he rolled off the small platform into a freefall posture. The repulsorlift systems built into his exoskeletal back kicked into action after a few seconds, allowing him to glide smoothly down to the undercity.


	24. Tchun-Tchin

Maarani had slept through the entire second day, waking up to the waning hours of the evening phase. She couldn't recall much of what had happened right before she went back to sleep. Aside from getting upset at Dana for whatever reason she had at the time.

She found Izan out in the common room, apparently trying to play card games by himself. The opportunity to make jabs was too easy. "Got banned from the game parlours already or what?" When he tried to wave her away with an incomprehensible grumble, she waggled her fingers at the cards in front of him. To her very mild disappointment there was no magical movement.

"I started playing against this one guy, turns out he's a bit of a sore loser. Called me a schutta the first few times, then he started calling me 'tal'kan'..."

A loud giggle followed from Maarani.

"Oh no, that can't be good…"

After circling around the lounge, she lightly tapped her chin. "How do I put this. Uh, 'tal'kan' means…" After further thought, she pointed at him, then gradually lowered her finger down to just below his beltline. "How many times did he end up saying that?"

"Eight… Last one he shouted, and everyone stared at me until I left." Izan buried his face in his hands. Of all the Twi'lek he could have picked as a card opponent, it was the vulgar one. "You tailh-" His tongue nearly began bleeding from how harshly he bit down on it. "I'm really glad Cecile doesn't shout that all the time. It's bad enough being the only man in a crew of four."

"One in five. Our Mandalorian friend that's due to arrive soon is a woman too."

"Great, a femfest."

"Is that a problem…?"

Izan slowly looked up at her, lightly sliding his lower jaw around as he considered the question at length. "Well, we have a lesbian Twi'lek, a coldhearted Jedi, a crazy droid, and now an indeterminate Mandalorian. And the amazing thing is the lesbian is the one I have the most in common with." He awkwardly picked at his teeth, hoping her piercing gaze would stop soon.

It only grew even more intense as Maarani folded her arms. "I happen to like the Mandalorians. One of the earlier assignments I went on was the Sith front there. They're good people, so if you have a problem with them, spell it out already."

"I don't have a _problem_ with them. Not as a whole. But a fair amount of the people who've roughed me up over the years have worn their helmets. It's nowhere near as bad as what a Wookiee would do I'll admit, but can you blame me?"

"Oh yes, I can blame you, pink-skin."

"How is it fair that you can refer to me by the colour of my skin, _fabulously distracting_ as it is, but I can't refer to you by your cranial appendages?"

"Because I'm a woman."

The _fabulously distracting_ pink hand made direct contact with his groaning pink face. "I am painfully aware of that fact."

Maarani stepped back over the small table to recline into the lounge opposite. Her teasing grin settled into a softer smile. "Honestly, Izan is a weird name. Otherwise Dana would've come up with some way to contract it down by now. 'Cecile' was her idea, and she caught onto 'Teegs' pretty quick." She looked to the nearby access hatch. For some reason, she suddenly expected Dana to pop out of it, though she had no idea why.

"Eye-zee is no good I assume? What about just Zan?"

"I still think Cecile was on the right track with pink-skin."

"Maarani."

"Tal'kan." She giggled again, almost hysterically as she watched his expression shift further and further towards exasperation. "I'm sorry, it's just too much. Picturing you in a game parlour while some drunken man keeps calling you that. Over and over until everyone notices. No wonder you're playing alone!"

"You done? You really done laughing at my expense?"

"Mmmyes?" Maarani shoved his boot off the small table with her bare foot. As much fun as it was to tease, she was in a surprisingly good mood. So much so that another plan for the night had been coming to her. "How long are you gonna be up? I don't want any awkwardness if I come back here with Zariba."

Izan shrugged while finally returning to the card game. "I'll find a nighttime card club, if you really don't want any male presence around."

"I don't mind _that_ much, Zariba might though. She's pretty sensitive."

"Don't say another word. Please." He tried to focus on the game while she wandered back into her room. When she emerged yet again a few minutes later, he very briefly looked over his shoulder. Nothing remotely close to the nice dress from the night before.

Even more strange was the fact that on her way out, she was humming a rather upbeat tune to herself. His knowledge about her for all of two days was hardly extensive, but that still seemed odd of her.

It was better than being yelled at by Dana for getting her drunk.

* * *

"Hello! Is uh… Zariba in?"

Seradan raised a quizzical eyebrow. Maarani had a big grin on her face, and unlike when she first arrived, it didn't looked forced at all. Every day she raised more questions for him to ponder on.

"Yes, she is. Where were you planning on taking her?"

Maarani put on her best cute posture, even adding a slight rocking motion with her feet. "Well, what would you recommend, as station commander? I'm sure you'd know the best places to visit." She glanced past him for a bit, hoping to catch sight of Zariba. When that failed, she looked back up to him. "I'll keep her safe. That's literally my job after all."

After further scrutiny, more for the sake of keeping Maarani honest, Seradan finally called out to his daughter. When she arrived at the door, he moved out of the way just enough to let her pass by. The gaze remained firm as ever.

"Zariba knows the places she would like to be taken to. Though, given last night, I would recommend…"

"Don't worry, I'm not drinking again while I'm here on the station. You've got my word on that."

Seradan frowned slightly, though it was quickly replaced with a very subtle smile. "I trust the word of a fellow Twi'lek over any other. Take good care of her."

Maarani gave another flashy grin as her arm slipped around Zariba. "You got it. I'll be sure to bring her back tonight."

Zariba elbowed her lightly.

"Ow. Uh… I'll get back to you?"

She was elbowed again.

"Ow! Zariba will come back when she's ready, and I'll get back to my actual job?"

She looked to her left in case she was to be elbowed yet again. In return, she got a sly smile and sideways glance from Zariba.

* * *

The club picked out had a very clean atmosphere to it. Immediately noticeable was the absence of smoking-based drugs. There were certainly patrons consuming the substances in other forms, but they were far less obnoxious.

For the most part.

"I suppose we can't expect there to be no dealers here. Want me to handle them Zari?"

Zariba shook her head, waving her hand in the typical way.

Maarani chuckled quietly while gently hugging her a little closer while they proceeded in. The soft green hue that permeated the sprawling room wasn't to her taste, but it was certainly better than sickly purples or painful reds and oranges that she often saw in other establishments.

It wasn't much longer before she began to notice the patrons themselves. A very surprising amount of non-Twi'lek populated it. Humans and Near-Humans mostly, with Ithorians from Telos making up most of the remainder. There were enough Twi'lek patrons to make her feel just comfortable enough with Zariba by her side.

What she noticed after was the lack of dancers, and provocative attire on the staff. Rather more like the officers clubs she had been to in past years. No shirtless men in close cut shorts or women in straps and string. The sort of place that wasn't meant to distract from present company or life's woes like so many others tried to do.

The only real point of novelty in the club was the extensive bar. Behind the multiple tenders, a dazzling array of clear piping twisted and swirled around from large tanks in the ceiling to dispensers lining the core. Every one of them had a differently coloured drink within, creating quite the eye-catching mess of colour.

After taking a seat, Maarani began gazing over the list of dispensers, lightly biting her lower lip as she considered what non-alcoholic drinks they had available.

To her quiet relief, rycrit was not on that list.

In her deep thought, she didn't even notice the bartender staring at her with a frown until Zariba nudged her arm.

"Maarani, you need help deciding?"

Maarani smirked at the nickname attempt. At the very least, it was closer to what she had chosen for herself. "Don't suppose you guys get chull-chull out here? Still got a taste for Mando drinks."

The bartender snorted in response and walked down to the far end of the row, where the tank of the thin blue liquid was dispensed from, pulling out the usual size glass for it.

It gave the pair a brief moment of privacy, just long enough for Maarani to start on her history with the Mandalorians. "I was in the squad for four years I think, when the Sith made a strong push right for the Inner Worlds. Some of the outlying Mandalorian colonies were in the way, and the higher-ups wanted to boost relations with them. So, for three weeks, we had to hold the line against a dreadnought and three destroyers. Nearly four hundred fighters."

She paused briefly as the bartender returned with her drink, watching her move up to the other end after Zariba nodded to her. Apparently she was a regular visitor.

"Go on, if you want."

Maarani took a quick sip to taste the drink. It wasn't nearly as nice as what the people themselves made, but it was definitely passable for her tastebuds. "Can't really describe the feeling we all had when the Mandalorians rushed in their stealth fleet and tore the dreadnought to shreds. They were terrified that the Imperials would detect them way too soon if the stealth tech wasn't finished, and we were running out of our own fighters to distract them with."

She took a longer drink, letting the sweet-salt taste settle her quivering nerves. Ironically it was probably the least bloody of her missions. "Had a pretty nice celebration party when it was over. No honorary patches or the like, but who needs 'em?"

The glass was brought up to her lips again when the bartender returned, this time with a shot glass of a thicker deep green liquid. Even before she put her glass down, she could smell a very bitter odour wafting out from it.

More shockingly, Zariba picked up the shot glass and threw the whole lot down her throat in a single motion. The way her body shook rather violently immediately after made her very concerned. "What was that stuff?"

Zariba didn't respond at first, waiting until another drink, this time a colourless one, was passed over. Apparently intended to wash away whatever had been contained in the shot glass.

"Skzanox. And water."

Maarani was silent for a few moments, stunned further by that. "Poison? You actually drink poison on a regular basis?"

"Papa says it's good for building immunity." Zariba took another long drink from the water glass, eventually finishing it off. Her shy demeanour was quickly wearing off.

Just as quick to notice it, Maarani considered how exactly to ask the question in a tactful way. After some thought, she couldn't settle on anything. "So, uh… You're actually comfortable being here? I'm just a little confused."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I got the impression you weren't the socially active type. I used to scowl at anyone who looked at me in places like this, not judging."

Zariba tilted her head to the right for a bit, not quite understanding the point. It eventually dawned on her as to what Maarani meant. "Oh. Well, normally I am…" She reached into one of her pockets and removed a small pen-injector, placing it down on the bar between them.

"It changes how my head works. Makes the nervousness go away, gives me better reflexes, awareness. And sometimes it even makes my powers stronger…"

Maarani took a long, deep swallow. She had anticipated a need to keep Zariba safe from the approach of drug dealers. It had never actually occurred to her that she was already hooked on stims. More worryingly was how completely insignificant it seemed to Zariba.

She finished off the rest of the chull-chull in an attempt to keep herself from getting upset over the discovery, with little success. "Zari, I'm not ever going to question the decisions of your father after how good he's been to us, but…" A shuddering breath followed as she looked at the injector. Two of the ingredients she recognized from her own injections as anti-depressants. "Drinking poison and flooding yourself with drugs?"

"Even with Papa to protect me, there are so many bad people out there, who want to hurt good people like us. He says I should be ready to protect myself, when people like you aren't around to help."

A dull ringing sound echoed at the back of Maarani's mind. It went away after a few seconds, but the cold feeling it left remained.

"Zari, just…" Her hand clenched in a trembling manner before she finally tore her eyes away from the injector. "Just don't overdose, please. Some of those are real nasty on their own already, in the doses I had to take." She twisted her head further around to glance at the other patrons. There was a new need for caution in her opinion.

"It's regulated by the family physician, Maarani. Don't worry so much." Zariba slipped the injector back into the hidden pocket while getting up again. When Maarani failed to follow, she lightly took hold of her arm. "Are you really upset at me over it?"

Maarani went through a drawn out sigh, and another look at Zariba before finally conceding. "Just a little too surprised. So long as you're going to be okay, I won't let it bother me. Deal?" The nod was all she needed to push her concerns aside for the night at least. She certainly didn't show any signs that it was affecting her negatively. Even her cute smile was as genuine as it had been the night before.

She paid little attention to the glances made in their direction while guiding Zariba over to the dance floor. The band was between sessions conveniently, leaving a lone Mirialan to maintain the ambient music by himself. A good opportunity to find a comfortable place to sit and wait for the next number to begin.

Zariba guided her towards the favoured table, a good distance from the others circling the room. It also had one of the better views of the band, while still providing a good look at the archway that led back to the bar.

A smile grew as Maarni slid herself a little closer to Zariba after they had both settled in. Only now was it truly dawning on her that she was free to be as open about herself as she liked. No-one was around to expect her to show full restraint or emotional control. And it wasn't going to end in another incident as it had with Sara Kirrin.

"So, Zari…"

"So, Maarani…"

She looked down with a small smirk after they stared into each other's eyes for a few moments. "You wanna go first? War stories of an ex-pilot aren't as fun as you'd think."

"I'm sure you can make them fun. I haven't ever left the station since we moved here. Not hard to impress."

"I doubt that." The grin widened further as Maarani nudged her shoulder warmly. While thinking on the story to regale her with, she brushed her right lekku out in front of her shoulder, something that made Zariba smile a little more.

"Uh, you got the basic idea about the Mandalorian front, not a whole lot else to say." Quite a few of the 'stories' she wanted to keep buried away. A club populated with a lot of unknown observers certainly wasn't the place to bring them back to the surface in. On the other hand, there was a very recent encounter that already sounded larger than life.

Before starting, she reached her hand out to take hold of Zariba's. "How about the time my fighter crashed and I ended up face to face with the White Terror?"

"Now you're teasing…"

"Seriously." She turned her head around and lifted her left lekku over, pointing a finger to the round scar on it. "A big wood splinter went right through there. Barely had time to get myself loose before she showed up."

While the claim was doubtful, Zariba grinned and decided to let her continue anyway. "So, was she hunting you or something?"

"Hunting one of my squadmates I guess. A lot of them are dead, good riddance too. Most of them bullied me from the day I was put in the squad."

"That's terrible!"

"Who cares? They're gone now." At that moment, Maarani found herself wanting another drink to remove the bad taste of spite. "Anyway, Kiarna, which is the White Terror's name I guess, was getting in my head and being all weird. I guess even Sith can't make sense of how messed up I am."

Zariba leaned over to kiss her cheek in a fleeting manner. "Maybe you were too strong for her."

"Well, no. I got one shot off, which she stopped, and next thing I know I'm being tossed around like how I played with my dolls as a kid." Her hands began to shake just a little. She really wanted a drink to hold.

To her relief, a Bith waiter finally made his way into the room. After calling him over, and ordering another two chull-chull glasses, she tightened her lip and continued on. "Needless to say I was terrified. Not my first encounter with a Sith in person, but there's a big difference between an acolyte and the second most powerful bitch in the galaxy."

For a moment, she wasn't sure if that description applied to Kiarna, or Masaka.

"I can imagine. Papa warned me that I have to go to the colony and hide if any Sith show up here. So far they haven't."

"Well anyway, she rambled on for a bit about random crap, then…" Even now, she still had no recollection of how she went from having a lightsaber in her face to bolting across the jungle at night. "I guess she wiped my memory after that and left. They found me several hours walk from where I crashed, splinter in my lekku gone. By then I was so fed up with the military that I decided to leave. Not hard since there wasn't a squad to go back to."

"So, it's possible she healed your lekku? Almost makes her sound less horrible." At that, Zariba carefully reached her hand across to touch the scar itself. Definitely fresh, and real. After withdrawing her hand, she giggled softly at the uncertain look Maarani had. "Or you healed it yourself, using nothing but your wits, part of your uniform, and the plants around you. Just like a good hero."

"Now who's the teasing one?"

A flicker of emotion that she hadn't experienced in a very long time sparked throughout her body. It drove her to cup a hand behind Zariba's head and pull her closer for a real kiss. Immediately she could tell there was no resistance from her. The meeting of their lips was tender, and just comfortably long enough for both to enjoy.

When they parted, Maarani saw bright shades of teal on Zariba's cheeks. Her own had probably turned the same shade of blue as her tattoos. They were already starting to become sore from her smile that she couldn't control.

Zariba leaned back into her seat, also smiling in her rather more subtle way. There was a lot more joy to it than just the bliss of an intimate moment however. "You've lost it, haven't you? That's why we're bonding so well. We have something special in common, even if you can't reach it yet." She leaned in closer again, cupping a hand up around Maarani's cheek to keep her lips hidden from view. Enough to let her whisper without others catching on.

It was yet another surprise that Maarani had to deal with. She had yet to hear anything about Force sensitives forming strong bonds in a short amount of time, but on the other hand she had never thought to ask Dana.

Her moment of conflict was brief. She had been counting on keeping the truth hidden, but if Zariba had worked it out from a kiss, she would also know when a lie was told. And she was even being given a chance to answer in secrecy.

Being honest had taken Izan from being an unknown threat to someone she felt comfortable fighting alongside.

"You can't tell your father, for his safety. I'm on the run from 'bad people'."

Zariba kissed her again to complete the distraction before sitting back again. A slow nod was all she needed to show as acknowledgement. "Just the two of us. Maybe Papa will let me travel with you, so we can be together. Whatever lies out there, I want to see it."

"Zari, I'm not sure if my employer would be okay with it…" It was a much harder decision on whether to reveal the rest of the truth to her. One that she soon decided would have to be made by Dana herself. "But I'll discuss it with her. If you're really certain about this. We only met last night y'know."

"I know. Which is why I'm sure it's the right thing." She very briefly darted her eyes around to the other patrons. Once certain they had stopped looking in their direction, she switched to using her lekku for communication.

 _I'm willing to discuss it properly in private, that was just banter. Shall we enjoy the rest of the night?_

Maarani's smile softened down at last, just a hint of wry thought tugging at the corners of her lips.

 _I'm up for just about anything Zari._

"Vasnha, vishna, _Twa'janii_ osima jehsa Mirial."

The exceedingly positive mood dropped rapidly for Maarani as she looked over at the assembling band. They were all Mirialan. Staying was suddenly something she didn't have the stomach for at all. Zariba on the other hand looked very intent on watching the performance.

"And for those visitors to our wonderful station, a truly special tour performance from Mirial's best generation of musicians to date."

A soft applause went around the room as the band began to play. Keeping with the tone of the club itself, the music was sweeping in nature, with notable highs and lows that never actually broke outside the range of normal listening.

Maarani eventually settled for keeping her gaze on Zariba the entire time. She could tell at least one of the musicians was glancing at her far too much to be a coincidence. Whether he recognized her directly, or just had suspicions was beyond her.

She wasn't going to let it get in the way of her date. Not after things had finally taken a good turn.

* * *

After quite a few more drinks, as well as a meal prepared to nearly the same standard as what Seradan had offered, the pair found themselves just outside the door to Maarani's shared quarters. It was only at the last minute that she remembered Izan was possibly still awake at that hour.

This time, she decided to opt for the excessively flamboyant entrance. With any luck, it would be far too awkward for Izan to the point of him retreating to his room before even making a comment. Which required physically carrying Zariba inside.

"Hey Izan! You missed all the…"

To her great disappointment, and further strain on her back, the main room was unlit and devoid of pink men to annoy.

She set Zariba down immediately after. Undoubtedly the stupid stunt would come back in a very painful way by morning. "Sorry, I really thought he'd still be up in a big sulk."

Zariba shrugged it off, giving her another soft nudge. "Worth being carried across the threshold. So sweet of you." Noting the concern Maarani had for her back, she reached in under the jacket to get a light feel of the muscles. "Doesn't feel like you strained anything, but I could take a closer look if you like."

"You're a masseuse too now?"

"The nice couple down in the promenade give yobana lessons. Would you rather wait for them instead?" Zariba made her way through to the bedroom ahead of Maarani to remove the outer coat she had been wearing. She tossed it onto a nearby chair while climbing onto the bed. "Just lie down and lift your shirt up."

Maarani had little trouble with tossing her jacket aside as well, and lying down on her stomach in front of her wasn't a problem either. Actually exposing so much of herself like that took actual determination. Outside of her family and a select few physicians, no-one had seen more than the skin on her head and arms.

"Wow…"

"What? Did Aiyek tattoo something down there without me realizing?"

Zariba traced her finger along the select scars that crossed over Maarani's back. Different lengths, depths and widths. "Are these shrapnel injuries? You've really been through some bad crashes." While some incoherent mumbling went on, she moved her attention towards the spine. The actual strain along it was minimal, but she kept that to herself for the moment.

"It's not too bad? Nothing you need to see a professional over." She pressed her thumbs rather firmly into the centre of the affected area. It brought out a loud yelp from Maarani. "See? You really are stronger than you think. That should have hurt a lot more."

"Or you're lighter than I thought. Mind not sitting on my butt?"

"It'll get worse if I sit on your legs. I think?" She slid her hands down to about as far down the spine as she felt comfortable with before beginning. The higher pitched yips that Maarani made while she worked on the muscles made her giggle almost uncontrollably. Definitely not the sort of sounds she ever expected a tough bodyguard to make.

It was taking a great deal of effort for Maarani to keep herself from fidgeting and yelping at every single push. She really wasn't used to that kind of contact. And to have it come from the delicately soft fingertips of a Twi'lek she was completely taken by only seemed to make it harder to remain perfectly still.

"So, now that we're alone at last, what's the real Tegama'Arani like? Aside from shy about her body. Speaking of which I'll probably be back to my quiet self by morning."

Another yelp kept Maarani from trying to dodge the question a little longer. She felt very vulnerable with Zariba sitting on her after all. "What else is there to say? You've got me figured out so far."

"Well, I've never met a woman who seemed so comfortable with herself from first impressions, but is afraid to take her shirt off for a massage. It's a little strange." By then she was back over the sore spot, taking the method a bit slower to ensure she didn't just make a mild strain much worse.

"You're looking at the answer right now. I don't want strangers commenting on all the scars." As always, there were a lot more reason as to why she behaved that way. The scars happened to be one of the easiest to leave out there.

By the time the massage had moved up closer to her shoulder blades, her apprehensions had subsided greatly. This was exactly what she craved most of the time after all. And while there had been some minor scares, Zariba really was showing a lot of consideration and patience with her very weird behaviour.

She barely even noticed when the rubbing stopped, only for the weight to spread out over her back. It was pressing her chest and stomach down enough to make breathing just a touch bothersome. "Why are you lying down on me Zari?"

"Comfy."

Maarani tensed up as she felt hands sliding down under her stomach, wrapping around into a tight embrace. That made breathing too much for her to tolerate. She began shifting her shoulders around in an attempt to push herself back off the bed. "Sorry, but I'm suffocating here."

With a very slight huff, Zariba slid herself off the 'suffocating' Twi'lek, but kept her arms securely wrapped above her waist. "Could always cuddle me instead if you want." When a disapproving grunt came in response, she slowly slid a hand up to the right lekku in front of her. "Guess we'll be like this the rest of the night then."

A quivering sigh fluttered from Maarani's lips as the gentle stroking of her lekku began. Such tender contact, and in just the right way to make it feel blissful.

She barely even noticed the lights fading out around them.

* * *

It was pathetically easy to dispatch the Mirialan woman attempting to break into Maarani's quarters. A small needle penetrating through the base of the skull into the brain brought about immediate death. By the time Aruga had removed it from her skull, and cleaned it, all signs of life were gone.

"Seradan, one of our guests just tried to break into the room. The same musician we observed displaying an affixiation on Tegama." He carefully felt around her person in search of a concealed weapon. A very slender blade was located inside the layers of her belt. The tip revealed a hollow tube running back through the blade, for containing poison. "Intent to kill. Do you still believe it is safe for your daughter to remain with her?"

" _Zariba is more than capable of defending herself. I am more concerned with the question of why a Mirialan with no connection to our guest would want to kill her on sight._ "

Aruga gripped the dead woman's chin to twist her shocked expression around for him to see. Caught off guard far too easily for a would-be assassin of any calibre. "My guess would be a personal vendetta, whatever that may be. 'Diamond-cheeks' here certainly isn't going to be telling us about it." As some guards approached, he stepped back and motioned for them to pick up the body.

" _No matter, we can make inquiries through our own channels. Dispose of the body in a suitable accent. Let the musicians report her disappearance, and remember to offer the usual compensation when her body is discovered._ "

"And Tegama'Arani?"

" _Let them sleep together. It will be far better if no-one else decides to investigate this potential connection._ "

"Very well." Aruga nodded to the two guards once they were carrying the body between them. "Find an airlock near the Mirialans, preferably close to amenities. Short out the lighting in the area, and stage a faulty locking mechanism. The poor bitch just happened to choose the wrong doorway while trying to find the cafeteria in the dark."

"Yes sir."

Once they were away, he took a moment to remove any signs of tampering from the door mechanism. A simple task, seeing as she had taken several minutes to not get very far. Once done, he stood back up and wandered in the opposite direction of the guards. "The evidence is gone. Anything else that I should attend to?"

" _Post an extra guard or two for each of the landing bays. I want that Mandalorian identified as soon as possible when she arrives. We cannot afford to upset the wrong clan right now._ "

"Understood. Next report when assignments are made."


	25. Imperial Summons

It was quite an impressive sight to see processions of Imperial officers disembarking from their private transports. Accompanying each group was a Sith sorcerer, escorted by their two apprentices. They in turn were guarding the brigadiers who commanded each of the thirteen other destroyers under General Morgak himself.

Seeing it for herself didn't change the fact that knowing their forces were in such a terrible state was truly infuriating.

"Master, should we not be down there with Darth Rak'Sakar?"

Masaka twisted her head with a violent snap, grinning wickedly to her new apprentice. "The lizard never invited me. So, we will show up at the meeting at a time of my choosing." She slid back down the awning to where Varga was waiting. "It's all boring greetings from uptight officers who have a vastly inflated idea of their importance. Your power with the Force, limited as it is, makes you superior to all of them."

She slid back down the massive awning they were hiding on right into his waiting arms. An unnecessary precaution of course, but it certainly ensured that his lust remained sufficiently strong. And he was already showing improvements in skill since their first lesson.

"What now then?"

"We wait for them to assemble in the conference hall, then let ourselves in along with the other sorcerers. Rak'Sakar will have a hard time kicking us out in front of all those generals curious about Lasidia's little pet." Quick to her feet, she took hold of Varga's wrist to drag him along behind her, giggling in the most childish way.

Her brisk walk through the vessel eventually brought them to a common room near the conference hall. A glare was all she needed to empty it of the few enlisted officers who were off-duty at that hour.

With the room to herself, she approached the nearest table. With barely a breath, she flipped her body up to walk across the table balanced on her palms. "Still don't feel like giving this a go? It's really quite relaxing." She lifted a hand up to scratch her nose, maintaining perfect balance on the other. "But then, I need the extra blood in my head."

By then, Varga had seen her maintain the posture enough times that it was no longer surprising whenever she went into it.

What he hadn't seen was just how extensive her flexibility had become. By that point, her feet were nearly level with her neck in front of and behind her body. He couldn't help noticing the grin that appeared on her face as they made eye contact again.

"This get you interested again?" She lifted her legs halfway back up and twirled around on the spot before flipping back over onto her feet at last. The grin grew wider as she slid herself onto Varga's lap, staring right into his rich blue eyes. "Just think for a moment. Think of all the things you could do with that kind of freedom."

Varga was thinking about it for a long while as she bounced around on his knees. There was a fine line between the desire to take her, and fear over the fact that she could tear his face off at any moment if she decided to on a whim.

A general announcement went out throughout the ship before anything further occurred. The conference was just about to start.

"Chin up apprentice. And look smart, we have some very important people to put on edge."

* * *

To the great satisfaction of Morgak, there were virtually no incidents as each of the brigadiers took their seats at the table arch to his right, while the sorcerers took their seats to Rak'Sakar's left. The central seat reserved for Lasidia was of course empty, as both of the people allowed to sit there were absent.

More importantly, there was no sign of the Twi'lek.

"I am glad civility endures in the Empire." The smile of confidence remained as Morgak turned to his left. "With your permission, Lord Rak'Sakar, we can begin the meeting."

A nod came from the Sith.

"Very good. Now, first and foremost-"

"Is a long winded speech about how he is going behind the back of his woman."

Morgak's smile changed into a scowl while turning to the doorway. Masaka was striding in with no shortage of arrogance to be found. The apprentice followed behind in a far more neutral manner. Just over his shoulder, he could hear deep hissing.

Hysterical laughter echoed around from Masaka herself. So much hate from the two of them alone for her to revel in. The officers feared her, and as expected, the other Sith had questions abundant. She was ready to take a seat in the gap between the two ends of the table.

"Get out Masaka. You do not belong here."

Her grin remained as she glared back at Morgak. To spite him even more, she kicked her feet up onto the officer's side of the table. "Wrong answer General. As the only actual Sith Lord in the galaxy at this moment, this is exactly where I belong."

A few murmurs began to circle between the sorcerers, quickly silenced when Rak'Sakar slammed his fist down.

"Darth Lasidia is not here to protect you, little girl. You have already overstepped your bounds significantly."

Masaka made an obscene gesture at him before looking to Silent on his left. Unlike the other sorcerers, he was giving her a very discouraging stare. He was probably the only person in the room who actually thought of her as something other than a freak in some way, aside from Varga of course.

She toned back her arrogance just a bit, but remained comfortably in her seat. "You've had me here for two months. I'm sure our guests want some long overdue answers about the little Twi'lek girl with three Sith Lords in her head." A thrilling chill went through her body upon hearing the growl from the lizard. Such raw hatred that nearly came close to what she felt for Maarani.

One of the sorcerers finally spoke up, a heavily tattooed human man. "We do have questions yes, but they are not the reason we were summoned. I think we can all agree that this Twi'lek is a matter for Sith alone."

Uncomfortable mutterings went around the officers.

Again they were silenced by Rak'Sakar, still growling at Masaka's blatant defiance. "Enough. Masaka, if you speak out of turn again, we will put you back in the nullification chamber. Understood?"

"Perfectly. My ears haven't been cut off yet."

Morgak's lips remained in a tight line. However much he wanted to object to her presence, he didn't have the actual authority to throw her out. "As I was about to say, the primary reason for this meeting is quite simple. Darth Lasidia and Kiarna have both taken absence to pursue other concerns. Darth Rak'Sakar and I have agreed that in their absence, we must resume our assault on Republic forces. A new method for achieving that is what we must discuss."

He gestured to the centre of the room, activating a holographic display of their quadrant of the galaxy, and the current battle lines. "We have lost all three of our dreadnoughts in these border assaults since the war began. Nothing has come close to those catastrophic losses in regards to hampering our efforts." With another gesture, several worlds behind their lines were highlighted in red, a few on the other side in green.

"The attack on Lantillies was not nearly as crippling as our calculations predicted to the Republic navy. They still outnumber us in weight-to-weight by three to one, and we can all be certain that their dreadnought will be ready to deploy well before we can launch any attack on Foerost." The map moved back out towards the red marked planets, zooming down on one of them to provide a detailed view of it.

"Lianna. By no means a significant planet to the Republic, but for our purposes, it could prove to be invaluable."

This time, the murmuring was present on both sides of the room. It was on the sprawling edge of their front line after all.

One of the few female brigadiers was first to speak up. "General, I assume you have a plan that will allow us to hold Lianna with the limited forces we have already. Taking that world puts us dangerously close to Mon Calamari, something Darth Lasidia herself declared to be too high a risk."

At that, Morgak's smile finally returned. "Oh, I would not worry about the fish-faces. With any luck, we will not be firing a single shot to take Lianna and her shipyards. Not counting the inevitable executions of course." He returned the projection to a view of the galaxy, marking out a line across the various hyperspace lanes that connected Lianna to the galaxy. "Very soon now, they are going to undergo a military coup, and as worthy soldiers of the Imperial army, we will step in to maintain order before civilian casualties skyrocket. The Senate will be tripping over themselves so much that we will have more than enough time to fortify the planet and surrounding space."

He waved the line away then leaned forward, resting both hands on the table before him. "This is just the first step in our new offensive. I want target locations, suggestions for points of attack, potential ambush lines, anything you fine officers have to offer me. Once we hold and secure at least five worlds, we will have enough forces to fully reinstate the Imperial Navy and Starfighters. I am sure you are all tired of wearing Army uniforms by now."

"Tired is one way of putting it, General." The woman from earlier stood up as well, looking to the other officers before continuing. "Waiting around for a Jedi strike team to 'liberate' a prisoner nearly handed to them on a platter is not what any of us were trained for. And launching attacks on tribal worlds and running at the first sign of a Hammerhead cruiser doesn't build experience. Such a drastic shift in strategy could very well backfire."

Silent finally spoke up at that point. "That is why your troops will have far greater support from the Sith in these operations. Training acolytes to operate as battle mages in ground and space engagements is progressing well."

"Word has spread of your failure to produce good acolytes, Silent. Do not lie to us."

He glanced to his far left at the Echani who had spoken up. Jarrik, rather unsurprisingly one of his competitors for the place at Lasidia's side he occupied. "Like Darth Lasidia, I believe squandering potential with needless executions and culling is a terrible method of training. There are bound to be poor batches of slaves for training."

Jarrik openly scoffed at the excuse, to the amusement of some of his fellow sorcerers. "This open species policy of hers has spread far beyond the realm of removing simple racism. Sith are high and mighty, we do not accept any and all into our ranks."

"I was a cowering wreck when I was brought before her, Jarrik." Rak'Sakar's decision to speak in defence of Silent was surprising to almost all of the other room occupants. Save for the one directly opposite him. "I do not disagree that there are problems with some of the newest initiates. But Silent is right in that the executions are needless. Sending them out as the first wave in battle is a far more productive way of disposing with them."

Morgak gestured to the galaxy map again, this time highlighting a specific sector of planets. "On that note, I would suggest prioritizing some droid manufacturing facilities. Tracking down the production lines for the HK-50 and HK-51 droids that are rightfully ours to begin with would be invaluable to war efforts. Intelligence believes they are originating from this sector."

The map once again returned to the galactic view while he sat down. As expected, there was further discussion between the others that went on for a while longer. All he noticed was the surprisingly patient look from Masaka.

Once the discussions had settled, Rak'Sakar took his turn to stand and speak. "In the meantime, I want every bit of information there is to be uncovered about this 'Following'. The main group and their apparent dissidents. I do not want another group of my best initiates to be wiped out by an enemy we know nothing about."

This time, one of the Sith women spoke up, her black veil shimmering as she turned her head to him. "My scryers and I have had little success in that regard. Something is shielding them from outside view through the Force. It was not dark or light in power. Just… ancient."

Since all of the attention was on the Miraluka seer, no-one noticed the shiver that went through Masaka's body upon hearing her words.

"Then we will find answers through direct means. When they strike next, I want every single one of our agents and Sith ready to capture them by any means. I would like to see this ancient shield of theirs defend them from our might."

At that, Masaka began clapping slowly to ensure she got full attention. When they all finally turned to her, she got up out of her chair and waved the map out of her face. "This is the Sith Empire I've wanted to see since becoming house-guest to our ancestral leaders. Total arrogance, blind stupidity, and stumbling about the galaxy chasing after literal ghosts."

"I warned you Masaka…"

"And I listened patiently throughout." She began walking around the inside of the table, dragging her finger along the edge. An icy trail was left behind by the tip. "I thought you were smarter than this. Lasidia and Kiarna think my sister is some sort of threat, and now you're viewing a cult supposedly following her as one too?"

Jarrik and many of the other sorcerers sat up at that moment, looking to Rak'Sakar. None of them had been told that there was an actual connection between all of the recent developments.

Masaka pushed the advantage right in. "Oh, so none of you thought to tell the others? I don't blame you. Admitting that the greatest threat to the Empire is a pathetic woman with no power over the Force whatsoever would clearly have been too embarrassing. I suppose the only order from Lasidia you intend to follow is to stay away from her. Everything else you are free to defy at will!"

In a moment so fast even she couldn't comprehend it, Rak'Sakar's clawed hand wrapped around her throat. The highly sharpened tips were digging right into the flesh of her neck.

Even then, she wasn't ready to relent. "Go ahead. Destroy the only mind in the galaxy who can operate Rakatan technology safely. Do it you stupid scaleface."

A low chuckle came from Jarrik, who took his turn with the slow applause. "Brave for a Twi'lek rat. Brave." When she was finally dropped to the ground, blood seeping from her neck, he leaned over the table to look down at her. "I would like to know more about this 'little girl'. When she has cleaned her neck up. Maybe she can dance for us too!"

The Miraluka took hold of his arm, pulling him back into his seat. "Watch your tongue, Jarrik. Even in her crippled state, she outmatches every one of us."

She and a few others sat back a bit when Masaka's bloodied hand gripped onto the table. Her efforts to close the punctures in her neck had not been all that effective.

"She's right, y'know. Just be glad the lizard is here to protect you all from me." Her hands were shaking as she forced herself to stand upright. A quick nod to Varga for help brought him right over. With him to lean on, it was a lot easier to make her departure from the room, leaving more blood smeared across the floor as she left.

There was a thick silence after she left. Rak'Sakar was still standing throughout, fixated on the blood glistening over his claws. Eventually, the appeal of the fresh scent wore off, and he sat back down in his seat. "Masaka needs to be reminded of her place. You will all have the chance to ask your questions soon."

His attention went to the Miraluka at that. "Your perception is stronger than that of any other. We will need you to ensure that she does not deceive us."

The black painted lips below the veil formed a slight smile. "Everything she just said is what she believes to be the truth, I can say with certainty." Her smile faded away again upon noting yet another growl from Rak'Sakar. Now was not the time to take pride in successfully exposing a weakness.

"Then it remains to be seen who is right. Lasidia and Kiarna, or this little Twi'lek. Shame that we only have one side to answer for themselves." Jarrik shoved himself away from the table to leave his chair. A brief glare was directed at Silent as he too made his departure. At the doorway, he paused for one final word. "If you have kept more secrets from us, we will find out. Remember that the two of you would never have gotten this far without our support."

One by one, the other sorcerers left the room after him, until Silent and the Miraluka remained. Rak'Sakar merely looked to each in silence.

"The others will never be convinced of the threat that looms over us all without real evidence. They cannot fully appreciate the danger that something closed off to the Force presents." She left immediately after that without a further word.

Every one of the Imperial officers had been quite silent throughout the whole exchange. Even Morgak was hesitant to break the cold mood by clearing his throat.

"I think that went about as well as we could have expected. By your leave, the officers and myself have further strategies to discuss."

All he received in response was a disparaging wave. Rak'Sakar's mood was even worse than he had guessed. It served as good encouragement to collect the datapads laid out in front of him. The other officers were equally eager to leave, all following him out in a close line.

Silent was left as the only human in the room. Unlike just about everyone else who had left before him, he was in no rush to leave. Circumstances were already stacking down against him without adding any further remark to it.

Rak'Sakar eventually left in silence as well, leaving behind a distinct cold zone in his wake. The hatred that fuelled his influence over the Force had never reached such heights until that meeting.


	26. Mission for Mires

As the only occupant to stand above two metres tall in fully armoured boots and helmet, it was impossible to not be noticed by every other passenger in the crowded transport. Through the visor of her helmet, she could see quite a few less reputable faces taking note of her. Mandalorians, especially imposing ones, were always threatening to the criminal sort.

Fortunately for them, her lightsaber was hidden inside her right leg, beneath metal and armour plating. Not easy to reach in a moment of crisis, but she didn't need it for reflexive defence anyway.

" _Arriving at Twa'janii Station. All passengers will disembark in an orderly manner. Prepare travel cards and identification for inspection._ "

The message was repeated afterward in several other languages, including her semi-native Mando'a. Miresan had become a far more obscure dialect of the homeworld tongue.

When it finally came time for her to move, she retrieved the necessary cards from a compartment inside her chestpiece. To her annoyance, the registry line was a lot slower than she first expected. At least twice while waiting, she felt sticky fingers trying to take the cards from her hand. A mere turn of her head to ensure they saw the clan mark on her helmet was enough to scare them off until she finally reached the registry.

The Twi'lek guard accompanying the droid glared at her while she handed the cards over. It didn't take long to deduce that he wanted the helmet removed, but he lacked the actual courage to say it. Normally she wouldn't give in to such petty pressure, but the instructions had been clear about not causing a scene.

When she finally removed her helmet, hauling it under her right arm, she glared back down at the Twi'lek. "I'm not proud of having half my face burned off."

"Not my problem."

The droid handed back her cards at that moment. "Welcome to the station, Jayden Mires. Please do enjoy your stay."

Jayden took the cards back and slipped her helmet back on before she had time to sneer at the guard. Further ahead were two more guards, apparently looking to inspect for weapons. With a carbine strapped across her back, a gift from Qoso on their fifth anniversary, as well as three blades across her body, a low profile blaster pistol hidden behind her back…

"Cause any trouble, Mando, and we will take you down."

She walked past them with just a stern nod in reply. Being told to remove her helmet in public was insulting enough. An order to remove her right leg for inspection would have pushed her patience too far, as well as exposing her as the only Jedi in the galaxy allowed to wear that helmet.

Once on the main promenade, she noticed a much lower number of guards. The few there were patrolling, or even enjoying some of the side stalls the station had to offer. Master Torbut had not given her specific instructions on where to meet Master Lauran and her group, so she was left with a sudden feeling of uncertainty. So often before, meetings such as that had a level of coordination she could easily work around.

Worse, she was also meant to look for a Twi'lek woman on a station quite literally filled with them.

Her idle wanderings soon brought her towards the residential section. There she found the rather odd pair of an older Twi'lek woman, accompanied by a Wookiee of all things. Two people that Torbut had mentioned to her in the last briefing as trustworthy contacts.

"Hail Mission and Zaalbar!" She approached them swiftly, keeping her hands in clear view to avoid startling the latter. Once close enough, she returned to a normal walking pace and continued on with them. "I'm looking for a woman who goes by Dana Lauran, and was told you have started negotiations with her."

Mission looked to Zaalbar, who shrugged back. Odd as it was to have a Mandalorian hurry over like that, she apparently knew who they were and who to ask for. "That's true, yes. I'd like to know who's asking before I tell you where to find her though."

"Jayden of Clan Mires. I'll say for now that my occupation is far from that of a bounty hunter." She reached up to her helmet to adjust the tinting briefly. "Dana and I have something in common."

After thinking it over further, Mission pointed down the hallway to one of the far doors. "Last I checked she's still there. Our first meeting doesn't start for another hour." She nodded quickly to Zaalbar, bringing her hand to rest on her pistol. "Better be one of the honourable Mandalorians, Jayden. Not all of us happen to like the Steadfast."

Being a close supporter of the current Mandalore made it hard for Jayden to let that pass. But she had far more to worry about than that side of her heritage. "I'm glad to see caution is still common practise around here." She glanced at the Wookiee again directly, something very few others could do, before moving past to make her way to the aforementioned door.

Fortunately for her, Dana was in, and ready to allow her inside almost immediately after identification.

The room was lit to a normal level, Dana herself preparing a small meal for herself at that moment.

"I expected you to be better prepared for my entrance. Leaving your back to the door after letting someone in on a name is not good for life expectancy."

"I've survived worse." Dana waited until the door was closed before turning around. She had heard reports about Jayden before certainly, but none quite captured the presence she held in person. Fully suited up in dark green Mandalorian armour, she looked very intimidating.

With the meal in hand, she made her way back to the common room and took a seat on the lounge she had grown quite fond of. "So, you're her. Looking quite well given what I heard you went through."

Jayden sighed as she pulled her helmet off at last, leaving it on a nearby table. The gloves were soon placed beside it while she sat down opposite Dana. "Arkanis was a good hospital until the place was devastated. And I heal better in battle than I do in bed." Now that she was free to relax, she gripped onto her right thigh and disconnected the leg entirely. She needed to give her hip time to recover from the constant cybernetic activity.

"I'd avoid doing that in front of Teegs, or our resident droid Cecile. They're both somewhat immature in their own ways."

"Then I will straighten them both out." As if to punctuate her point, she pulled the cybernetic leg out until it was perfectly straight, then rested it over her other thigh. "The Council already told me as much as they were willing to about Maarani. What I need to know from you is how you planned to go about teaching her about the ways of the Force."

Dana glanced back over her shoulder at the door. Maarani still hadn't come by for the first lesson she had planned to begin with. "When she wakes, I intend to start with applicable philosophy of the Force. Starting with how to reach a state of perpetual calm. Right now more than anything, she needs to learn about controlling her emotions, they can't keep controlling her anymore."

"And where is she now?"

At that, Dana tightened her lips. The irony had only just occurred to her. "In bed with the station commander's daughter, I believe…"

Jayden's face landed in her hand as another long sigh came. "And you've been here for all of three days now? I don't like to make assumptions, but is this what Twi'lek really are like?"

"Zariba is Force sensitive, I believe that letting Teegs spend time with her will help with moving past her own block. And quite frankly, I don't see the harm in letting her experience positive emotion for a change."

"Lust is not a positive emotion, Lauran. You cannot possibly tell me that those two are experiencing anything more than raw desire after a few days of knowing each other." At that, Jayden reconnected her leg so she could stand up properly and pace around the room. Already, the assignment to be a trainer was throwing all manner of unexpected difficulties in the way.

The notion was bothering her on another level entirely. It took much longer for her to admit that. "I left my husband alone yet again for this, right after I vowed to try and stay with him more. But I expected it to be worthwhile; that the student wouldn't be flaunting about in such a careless manner."

"Jayden please, she's been to hell and back over the past two months. She certainly isn't doing it to rub in the fact that you're missing your other half out here…" Dana winced as she was glared at with the scarred eye. "Bad choice of words. Just focus on her physical training, and I'll focus on her spiritual training when she is ready to move on from this little fling of hers."

At that, the half Mandalorian retrieved her helmet and replaced it on her head. For the moment, she was no longer speaking as a Jedi. "You can handle her spirituality alright. But if she was trained in the manner of a soldier before, then that is how I will proceed. Discipline and orders."

Dana threw her arms up in defeat. The exasperated sigh that came after Jayden left was about all she could do to express herself. A soldier was exactly what Maarani was not to become. There was already too much militarization of the Jedi to begin with.

* * *

For the first time in well over a year, Maarani woke up with a smile on her face. Zariba's arms were wrapped around her stomach, and there were two lekku draped over her right shoulder.

It was blissfully warm. She wanted anything other than for that moment to go away. But now that she had finally been given a truly restful sleep, it was a lot easier to remember the events of the past few days. Among which was a decision by Dana to give her Jedi training another go.

It wouldn't have the mediocrity and bland pointlessness that the training Atris had tried to give was completely full of after all.

She let out a soft groan while very carefully twisting herself around to embrace Zariba directly. Not an easy matter with how entangled their legs had become. When face to face with the sleeping Twi'lek, she reached her hand up to very gently stroke down her jawline.

"Zari, got a big day ahead of us."

Zariba's eyes began to flutter open. Weakly at first. After being kissed again by Maarani, she couldn't help smiling and gradually forcing them open at last. The big blue eyes staring right back at her was only slightly unnerving for a few seconds. She had to maintain the perception that she would have withdrawn into herself again by morning after all.

"Mm, surely you don't need to guard your employer constantly."

Maarani grinned at that, letting her hand slide down over her perfect smooth shoulder. "Can you keep a secret? Really, just between us. I know you really care about your father a lot, but it's for his protection…"

She softened down to a whisper as Zariba nodded slowly. Even then, she felt a need to lean just a little closer in. "She's not my employer. She's my trainer."

In a weird turn of events, the contouring pillow was yanked out from under her head, only to be planted back over her face with a loud thwump. Through it, she could hear faint giggling from above.

"You're asking for it Zari." She shoved the pillow off her face and sat up. Across the room, she could see her shirt and pants, which she didn't recall taking off. Her undergarments were still safely in place.

She left the matter at that. Zariba was keen to return to sleep from what she could tell. Rather than using it as an excuse to keep sleeping, she reluctantly slid herself off the bed altogether and went to retrieve her clothes. "I'm supposed to meet her for the first lesson today actually. And I figured that since you were going to show us around the colony, that'd be a good opportunity for it."

There was a tired mumble from the bed.

"It'll be nice. Can't say fun, since meditative stuff isn't supposed to be fun apparently." After pulling her shirt back on, she noted the location of her jacket, then tossed Zariba's clothing onto a chair next to the bed. "Come by the landing bay when you're ready then, I guess? I'll be looking for wherever I can satisfy this sweet tooth I've got coming."

She grabbed her jacket on the way out in a smooth motion that was meant to impress, but had apparently gone unnoticed.

"Showing off again Teegs…" Maarani's lip tightened. Only for a little while as she left the room altogether. The pure happiness of how things had turned out for her had run a little longer than was deserved.

As soon as she was gone, Zariba sat up and gestured around to her clothes. The shirt she slipped on quickly, after which she twisted her headdress around to use the concealed communicator for speaking into as well this time.

"Papa, Tegama wants to go down to the colony with me and her Jedi employer. She hasn't revealed anything suspect. I think she might really be just looking for guard work."

There was some faint whispering on the other end of the line.

" _I'll notify the overseer of your impending arrival. Just ensure that you direct them to the family shuttle. I don't want you flying around in the trash they arrived here in._ "

"I think she'd be hurt to hear that Papa." Zariba giggled at that impression anyway, having not seen the ship for herself yet. "Anything else?"

" _Stay safe child. I am glad you have taken to your new playmate._ "

She closed off the channel, then tossed the entire headdress away. Her head landed back on the pillow with a loud thump that mostly concealed her sigh.

However much she loved her father, and being able to open up comfortably, exposing the whole truth would dash her real chance at a life beyond the station. When it would be with someone who genuinely cared about her in a way that she sorely wanted, there was no other choice to make.

* * *

Maarani had gone about five steps before running into the last people she had expected to be waiting for her around the corner.

The sheer surprise left her completely lost for words.

"Good, you're awake. Mind taking a walk with us Tegama?"

Zaalbar grunted impatiently.

"Hey, give her a moment Z." Mission prodded Maarani's shoulder lightly, grinning like the trickster she always was at heart. "Your 'boss' told us you were a fan, and since we're just waiting on her, I decided that we'd come surprise you first." She elbowed Zaalbar's hand away when he tried to prod Maarani as well.

Maarani finally blinked when she came out of the moment. "Uhh, she did? I saw you around here, but I didn't want to call out… and make things awkward." Her hand went up to her head in the further realization that she had just done that anyway. Even after having them be the first to introduce themselves.

Mission quickly shrugged it off and gestured for the younger Twi'lek to walk between them. "Don't need to be so tangled up about it. We're not that big a deal."

"I'm not tangled. Just, unprepared?" Maarani nervously glanced up at the Wookiee, trying to smile. "Now I don't know what to say that you haven't heard hundreds of times already."

"Start with yourself? Your boss made quite a big deal about how important you are." When they reached the promenade, Mission lifted her tone a little. "Wouldn't happen to be a slicer by any chance?"

"Pilot, actually."

"Oh, a flygirl huh? I suppose that's not so bad then." She glanced at her jacket. Republic military patches. "Must be fun getting to fly to different planets, all the men hanging off your arm having just saved the day for their planet, ready to listen to every one of your tales."

If it were anyone else in the galaxy, Maarani might have just gone on a small rant about how everything she had just said was completely wrong. But it was Mission. She didn't feel enough determination to make even the slightest of corrections.

What could she possibly say? That being in the military was actually a hard mix between seeing the sights while everyone else bombarded her with obscenities?

"Hey, what's wrong?"

She hadn't even noticed that she was on the verge of crying. Then again, it was something she did so often that it was almost a daily issue to overcome. Most days she didn't even try.

When it was about to set in, she paused for a calming breath, pushing out all of the memories that had tried to resurface. "Mission, I really don't want to sound like I'm being a jerk here, because meeting you really does mean a lot…"

"Oh, I've had to deal with far worse, believe me. Zaalbar had to cover his ears most times."

Zaalbar grunted at Mission for bringing that up.

By that point Maarani had calmed herself enough to shrug the whole thing off. "Bad war memories, what's new? Nothing I can't handle." She reached up behind her left shoulder to drape her lekku down the front again, much like how Mission herself did. "But uh, I suppose there was some of that on Mandalore and Sarka. Don't recall having anyone hanging off my arms, let alone men."

"That was a figure of... Oh nevermind, I just like knowing the real heroes get their recognition. You don't get medals for importing and exporting."

"Sounds a lot safer though. At this point I'd rather come home intact than get a medal."

"Raaargh!"

Maarani looked to Zaalbar again, this time with a nervous chuckle. When he looked back at her, she quickly turned to Mission. "I uh, was never deployed near Kashyyyk, so…"

"He doesn't care about medals. Guess you two have something in common."

She nearly jumped out of fright when he threw an arm around her shoulders to hug her closer. The hold wasn't nearly as terrifyingly strong as that of the HK droids, but they weren't trying to be friendly.

The conversation continued on for a while longer, mostly consisting of Maarani finally breaking down and asking all manner of questions about their adventures with Revan. She also ended up recounting some of her more recent adventures yet again. While Zariba had seemed concerned afterwards, Mission was clearly excited, and a little impressed by it all.

After making their way back to the residential section, Mission finally clasped Maarani's shoulder. "You're a real tough woman. Don't let others call you a kid, or little girl, because I'm sure you could kick their ass easily. Maybe not Dana's, but just about anyone else sure."

Maarani grinned at that. Dana certainly didn't seem like a Jedi who taught combat of any form, so it was unlikely the chance would ever arise.

"I'll keep it in mind." Her eyes slid over to the door of Dana's quarters. A tricker's grin began to form.

"I didn't mean you should give it a try."

She shrugged that off on her way into the room. Dana was in the kitchen area, her back turned to the doorway. The perfect opportunity to get a sneaky strike in.

Boots weren't ideal for sneaking. The floor was carpeted at least, which allowed her to get right up to the hard surface of the kitchen in near perfect silence. With tense breath, her next few steps were slow, and heavily calculated.

Finally, she was close enough to make a jab directly for her right shoulder. The grin grew ever wider as she raised her hand up, finger ready to strike…

In the instant that she plunged forward, Dana's own right hand lashed out and grabbed her finger firmly. Her left hand went for the lower part of her spine, but that too was immediately blocked by the Jedi. With little other choice, she went for the shin kick.

"Teegs."

The sudden shock of hearing her speak caused Maarani's kick to go wild. Her balance was thrown off altogether; the resulting swing up from her leg causing her to topple to the ground.

"Do I need three guesses to work out who told you to 'attack' me?"

"No-one _told_ me to…" Maarani bit her lip as she suddenly realized the irony of it all. "Mission said I could maybe beat you up for calling me immature…"

"By trying to poke, tickle and kick me?" Dana had turned from the counter by then. She leaned over to give Maarani a very small clap. "Hope you had fun. Looks like Jayden isn't the smiling sort. At least from the first impression she gave me."

Maarani grabbed onto her hand when it was finally offered. While being helped back onto her feet, she became confused at the vague description given. "Well that's odd. The Mandalorians I knew were quite friendly when we arrived there. What's got this Jayden all riled up?"

"Probably the burn scars. Just really do be tactful around her. She's nearly twice our size." Dana sighed as she leaned back against the bench. "Try not to talk about your girlfriend around her either."

"Oh, is she one of those…"

Dana shook her head at that. "She's been through a pretty hard time with her husband, and is probably projecting those frustrations onto others. Hard to be certain from the brief conversation we had, though her focus on sticking to military code is worrying. I wouldn't read anything personal into it."

"Fine. I'll come complain if she's being too harsh and won't back off." Maarani also leaned back against the nearest secure point she could find, which ended up being one of the bulkheads. "Oh, so, Zariba figured out the whole thing with the Force, and uh, I invited her along to that training session you wanted to do."

There was silence from Dana, aside from the light drumming of her fingers. Her lip tightened slightly just before she spoke up. "The cover story was your idea to begin with. Do you really think its a good idea to go and undo it now?"

"She isn't going to tell her father, believe me. I also mentioned how we're on the run, and him knowing less is going to keep him safe. I'm pretty sure that's how she understood what I was saying anyway."

"It seems all we can do is hope that's the case." Dana leaned forward again, gesturing across the room to her coat and carry bag. Inside was her normal Jedi attire. "Pack clothing that you'll be comfortable sitting on the ground in for a few hours. Preferably not this." She gestured to the outfit Maarani was currently wearing.

"Oh, it's not Jedi enough or something? I'm not wearing twenty layers of itchy fabric."

"Then don't wear twenty layers, and don't pick itchy fabric. The idea is not to stand out in a crowd, or be restricted in movement in some way." Dana yanked her robe out of the bag to hold over her form as demonstration. "This is a typical Jedi robe that I crafted by hand myself based on the standard design, in a nice shade of white. I only wear it when I need to enter deep meditation, or there is an important ceremony. It's easy to move in, and certainly isn't twenty layers thick."

"It still looks uncomfortable."

Dana clasped at her forehead. Somehow it was harder to deal with Maarani when she was in a fairly normal mood. "Go and find something better already, please."

"Fine, mom."

"That's not funny Teegs."

Maarani stuck her tongue out. This time it was with a real look of defiance about her.

Before things escalated further, Dana took the time to focus herself. The robes were left on the nearby seat when she walked over so that she could hold both of the Twi'lek's shoulders. "Padawan Arani, as your master, I am asking you to do this one task. Work out a good set of meditative robes for our lessons. Zariba needs a good role model after all."

For once, Maarani was very quick to notice what Dana was trying to do. "I thought you said I'd have to scrub the entrance hall if…"


	27. Lessons of the Force

Most of the time since being shoved out of Dana's room had been spent in a low orbit to look for a good landing zone away from the colony cities. Possibly one of the most tedious parts about flying the ship. And the control scheme was one she had next to no familiarity with at all.

Zariba had far too many places in mind as to where they could go.

Dana's near infinite patience was the only thing keeping her from picking out the next location at random. "Anything look good Teegs? I think we just passed a few forests not too long ago."

A silent shrug was all she got in reply.

"Okay, even taking into consideration everything that's up with your head, this is not like you." She awkwardly pushed through the tiny corridor into the co-pilot's seat beside Maarani. It didn't take long to work out that she was not actually trying to remain focused on flying the vessel. "Teegs, if there's a real reason behind your objection to wearing robes, please tell me now."

Maarani finally decided to speak up after Dana had gone through the whole ordeal. "I don't need special clothes for meditation. I can concentrate just fine in these. Unless the Jedi really have become a military and they'll force me to comply with the dress code…"

Dana zipped right back into the chair. "What the hell are you on about now? I really don't know where your issues come from sometimes-"

The answer clicked over in her head. Again, she had to calm herself before continuing. "You don't want to go back to military training. All that frustration stems from what I mentioned back there." She reached across the small space between them. "I'll be there to help you discuss the matter with Jayden. There is still a lot that the three of us need to coordinate on."

"Oh look, a very convenient giant waterfall with grassy peninsula that's flat enough to land on."

Dana shook her head. Pushing for Maarani to open up would just make her stubborn again. Exactly what would impede teaching her to achieve a state of calm.

There was a lot of nervous murmuring from Maarani while they closed in for the landing. Even after touching down on the no longer pristine grass, she was clearly nervous about stability. After a solid minute of silence, during which nothing else occurred, she lifted her hands away from the controls. No sudden subsidence. No blaring warnings about a safety measure she forgot to check off. Most importantly, no control panels exploding in her face.

She waited for Dana to make her way outside before moving from her seat. Zariba was still changing into her attire for the lesson in quite possibly the most claustrophobic room she had ever seen. So far, she had yet to see the set itself.

In the meantime, Dana was taking the opportunity to look around the peninsula environment. The sheer cliffs that ran down around the grass surface were slightly worrying at first, but the sight of the cascading waterfall just a hundred metres away took her mind off the drop. Her only real concern was the apparent lack of wildlife that could help with the lesson itself. But it was not worth asking Maarani to spend another hour looking for a new site.

When Zariba emerged from the vessel, Dana was presented with a unique opportunity to talk with her alone. Without Maarani there to be any kind of influence. She waited until the Twi'lek had moved far enough out into the open before approaching her in a casual manner.

"Anything she hasn't told you about us yet?"

Zariba shook her head with a soft smile.

Dana's arms crossed over her chest. She was trying to maintain the casual attitude, but it wasn't quite so simple given what she had to say. "That include the fact that she's an empath, that her emotional state can have an impact on other Force sensitives? I really am just concerned that it could affect you badly since you haven't had formal training."

"I'm fine. I know how to block it out." Zariba's eyes wandered around as she noticed the Jedi trying to get a read on her. It was quite difficult to keep her entire body in check. A distraction was needed. "What has she said of me?"

It worked as far as distractions went. Dana's focus changed to cherry-picking parts of the earlier conversations, not wanting to reveal too much about what they knew. "That your father hid you from the Force order on Ryloth, and from the Sith. And that you were quite decisive about her situation. It really is impressive that you picked out the source of her inner pain so quickly…"

She noted the brief look from Zariba. Awareness of the inquiry, while not that discreet, was still noteworthy. Her perception was definitely sharp.

"Maarani wanted me to help her. I could feel her heart reaching out. How could I say no?"

"Rather poetic way of putting it." Maarani was halfway down the short ramp when the other two looked to her. At that moment, she was conflicted between being stubborn around Dana, and actually trying to be well behaved for Zariba.

After odd looks from both, she settled for the latter.

Dana was more confused by the robes Maarani had apparently settled on. "Off-black?"

"It's called navy. They don't have a colour called 'starfighter'."

Zariba was quick to be the voice of positivity. "I think it suits well. Shows off the figure." She prodded Maarani's side in a deliberate way to make her feel embarrassed. As expected, it helped to take off the defensive edge. "Better than earthy colours. Or greys. There's too many boring metal colours."

Dana shook her head before starting her search for an ideal location for them to work with. There was a surprisingly rough ground layer beneath the lush grass. She didn't need yet another excuse for Maarani to start complaining.

After searching ahead for a while longer, she settled for a reasonably level plateau and waved the two Twi'lek over. "Pick a good spot, reasonably apart from each other, and face towards me."

Once they had done as instructed, she spread her feet out to shoulder width. Her hands raised up to about a metre from either side of her head, fingertips pointed upward, then twisted at the wrist to match the flow of the wind. Her head also turned to follow its path to the distant horizon. "First thing they teach you upon becoming a padawan after completing the initiate stage is how to control your breathing. Oxygen gives us life, just like the energy of the Force. Obviously you don't inhale the Force, but letting it flow through the body is somewhat similar. There is a definite give and take."

"I thought this was about helping me cut down on the mood swings?"

Just for that moment, Dana had to smile. "Patience is the path to understanding the Force. While moments of passion can lead to great miracles of healing, it is far more likely to result in great acts of destruction. Patience is key to mastering both, and to choosing the right path to follow." She turned her feet towards the horizon, the rest of her body twisted to face it fully as well. Her arms moved down in front of her stomach, accompanying her deep exhale.

"Jedi typically withhold their emotions in life for a good reason. It is easy to be angry at an enemy, to hate them, revile them. It is much harder to forgive, understand, and even love them." She stretched her hands out in front of her head, flat against the sky as if she were pushing against a wall. "Without temperament, caution, and poise, even the purest of emotions like love can twist down into the dark side. However, someone filled with even the worst of emotions like hate can still be turned to the light."

Maarani dragged her left cheek down with a drawn out groan. Given what she had been told by Dana, Utan and Sereti, she was beginning to grasp where the lesson was going. "Since I'm an empath, I can muck around with emotions. And since the Sith rely on emotions for power…" Her mouth went dry as something ominous occurred to her. "Is that how my mother was pulled from the dark side? By my father using his powers to get at her?"

Dana's lips remained firmly shut. Her gaze was slowly shifting between Maarani, who was clearly distraught over her realization, and Zariba, who looked strangely unfazed.

She broke from her posture to face Maarani once she felt she was ready. "Your father and I, as well as a few others taught many of the former Sith to temper their emotions, nothing more. They came to us, and we helped."

"You don't look sixty years old."

"That's because I'm not sixty years old."

"Maarani don't be rude. Dana looks lovely, whatever her age is." Zariba flashed a grin at Maarani, who was looking even more flustered. She could hear Dana sighing while presumably rolling her eyes at the compliment.

When the two Twi'lek began to settle again, Dana returned to the posture she had been in last. "Getting back to the lesson, emotional control through patience starts with focus. The best way to achieve constant focus is to pick something neutral, and think about it whenever an emotion begins to surface." She glanced over at the pair as they immediately looked to each other. "Girlfriends are not emotionally neutral."

The two Twi'lek giggled before looking to the environment around them.

"When you find something to focus on, stare at it. Study it, contemplate its existence. When you need to focus, the only thing in your mind is that object. Nothing else matters." She returned to her original posture, arms out to either side, then brought both hands together in a meditative gesture. "You exist, the object exists, and the Force exists. There is no harm, no fear, no danger. You are alone in the void. The Force flows between you and the object, drawing away passion, leaving behind peace. You breathe in, the Force breathes out.

All three took deep inhales, holding it for the exact same amount of time, then exhaled in the same motion.

"Anger cannot blind you, sadness cannot slow you. Bliss cannot leave you ignorant, awe cannot distract you." Dana slowly dropped to her knees, resting both hands on them as she lowered her head in deep thought. "Hatred for another will never triumph over love for them."

Maarani's fist clenched at that. That was blatantly referring to Masaka, yet again. Dana wasn't ever going to leave that alone.

"Hope will never fall to the shadow of despair. The Force guides us in all things. We are its protectors, and it protects us. A will that is pure of mind, peaceful at heart, and one with the Force can achieve anything it is set to." She looked to Maarani one last time before settling into her full meditative state. "A Jedi loves the life of the universe above all else. We act for the good of all."

The brief flicker of anger faded from Maarani's mind while she knelt down as well. She wasn't ready to forgive Masaka by any stretch. But, as always, Dana was ultimately looking out for her best interests. No matter how unattainable they felt.

She took in another deep breath.

* * *

This time, her entry to the desolate dreamscape was abrupt. She felt herself physically falling to the thick dirt surface, as if pushed. The whole experience was scarily vivid now. Every little lump and rock that she had landed on brought noticeable pain with it.

"You continue to ignore my warning Maarani."

Maarani picked herself up off the ground and dusted her robes down. As expected, her 'other' self was standing there with a very disapproving expression. This time, she had a real rebuke.

"No shit I've not followed your warning. Every time I wake up from this, I instantly forget! Good work on that one!"

Shock was the last thing she expected from what was either an omnipotent being, or a manifestation of her subconscious. That was exactly the reaction she got.

"Azera had no difficulty in retaining the visions I sent her. I was certain you would-"

"Oh cut the crap already, whatever you are." Maarani took a cautious step towards the apparition. She certainly looked real, not even uncannily so. There was none of her own tattooing underneath the three distinctive marks. Not a complete copy of her current appearance then. "Every time you appear, hours just go by without me even noticing. By now I bet Dana and Zariba are desperately trying to wake me up."

The Lady shook her head at that. She reached her hand out and clasped Maarani's shoulder, giving her enough of a physical sensation to really take notice. "We communicate through the Force, you and I. In simple terms, you took longer to make sense of the thoughts I gave you. Now that the link has been strengthened, it will take far less time in the living world." Her hand fell away once she was certain that Maarani had come to accept what had been said. "When you restore your connection to the Force, these memories will be released to your conscious mind. At least that is what I am counting on."

Despite the seemingly real touch, and the explanation, Maarani was still airing towards her sarcastic tendencies. "Great, you could tell me how to do that, but I can't remember. And if I could remember, it wouldn't be useful anyway." She reached up to her head as it grew sore from her further pondering on the circular logic of it all. Being able to chat with an omnipotent being certainly had incredible tactical value, but it was completely worthless in actuality.

"Is there anything I can do from in here then? Such as making my body write a note? Something like 'Go find Azera Vass, she's the one.'"

The blank look she got said enough.

"This is stupid! Why even bother telling me anything then? By the time I remember it all, none of it will matter."

The Lady's head dipped down in sorrow. This time, the white marking on her face was softly glowing. "So many good people will die. I can only hope you kill most of the bad ones in retribution." She lifted her head back up, this time with the grey marking in full glow. "I must focus on protecting Azera until you cross paths with her. Guide her to the light, and she will guide you to the Force. Stay safe Tegama'Arani."

* * *

She released a long exhale.

"Impressive Teegs. You just held your breath for three hours."

Her eyes were slow to open. A weary feeling had spread through her body. Oxygen deprivation.

With a weak groan, she tipped over, landing on the grass with a thud. The world around her was spiralling out into oblivion. After some muffled exclamations, a green blur and a brown blur entered the mess that was her vision.

"Teegs, deep breaths okay?"

Maarani was already doing just that, but not by her by her own volition. Already, she knew it was another of her increasingly bothersome blackouts. When meditiating in the forest on Sarka, she had maintained some level of awareness throughout. There was no recollection of the past three hours at all.

 _Deep breath in._

The worries, concerns and suspicions that had clouded around her mind vanished in an instant.

 _Deep breath out._

Until that moment, she had been so preoccupied that the wonder of relaxing on a world she had never visited before was forgotten. Of the hundreds of worlds in the galaxy around them, it was definitely one of the more pleasant places to be. A true touch of peace that flowed throughout.

"Aww, you look cute like this. So quiet and-"

Maarani opened her eyes to glare at Zariba.

"Oh, right. Can't interrupt the moment."

"Bit late now."

This time, she was hoisted up onto her feet by a simple gesture from Dana. She knew the exact sensation that the Force had on the body from far too many climbing accidents back home.

Her last experience with it had been on Sarka.

Dana took hold of Maarani's hand before she collapsed yet again. "You made a connection to the Force, I felt it. Don't worry about holding on just yet." Her other hand moved to Maarani's facing shoulder, meant to reinvigorate her confidence further. "Progress is progress. You tried, and to a degree you succeeded."

Maarani's grin returned. "The effort is just as important as the result. Right?"

"Your memory is good, padawan." Dana glanced past her to where Zariba was giggling. "Mind heading back to the ship? Please? Private Jedi stuff to discuss."

Zariba gave a simple shrug, pausing on the way only to kiss Maarani's cheek before making her way back to the ship.

Once they were definitely alone, Dana looked back to the remaining Twi'lek. "There's been a change of plans, and I wanted to wait for the right time to tell you." Her expression had faded from the usual look of content that she had into slight dismay. "The Council is calling off the training schedule with friendly groups, because of the HK droids. Jayden and I will continue to train you, only we won't be staying in one location for long anymore."

"That sounds quite sensible actually." Maarani's expression also dipped down. For her, it was into hints of concern. "It's also nothing to be upset about, so there's something else to be said."

Dana nodded in a very solemn manner. Her lip began to tremble slightly. "Hours after we left Telos, Atris suffered a heart attack."

Maarani's lips parted in shock. The air in her lungs was drawn away.

"She didn't suffer any serious physical injuries from what I've been told, but…" Dana's lip continued to tremble, beyond what she could keep concealed. "They said there was some amount of brain damage. Located in a particular area we believe is associated with the Force in some way." She drew a shuddering breath to draw the pain she was feeling in. The following exhale released that and every part of her anguish out. "Without that connection, she isn't expected to see the end of the year."

In that moment, Maarani felt a new sensation of sorts. She could feel the gathering emotions in the Jedi before her, all packed in together underneath her calm exterior, and when they were dispelled into the void. Something had definitely tapped into her nature as an empath.

When it passed altogether, she stepped forward to pull Dana into a tight embrace. There was a slight tug in her chest when she felt her taking hold as well. "I'll take you back to Coruscant right now. Training can wait. Friends are always more important."

A soft smile formed across Dana's lips when she leaned back to make eye contact with Maarani. "I will see her again when the time is right, don't you worry. Right now, our concern is ensuring that you and Jayden start off on the right foot…"

She bit her tongue sharply. Even given her many, many years of experience, there were still far too many verbal slip-ups for a Jedi of her reputation. "Don't stare at her leg, or her face. And especially don't make any comment on them." Already, she could see smugness overtaking Maarani's face. One mistake that she was going to be held to for a while yet.

* * *

"What the hell did you do to your face?"

Maarani's lips turned a very pale blue from how tightly they were stretched across her teeth. On the one hand, she had just been rather rudely insulted. But on the other, it was by a woman almost twice her size, and covered almost entirely in heavy armour.

And yet, it was the armour itself that kept her from making a sarcastic remark despite the very real risk of getting punched across the room.

"I got it tattooed. Military regs are bullshit in that regard, and in every other way actually." She frowned a little when Jayden raised her unscorched eyebrow at that.

 _She's a Mandalorian, Maarani. Just be blunt, and she'll respect that…_

After a sharp breath, she glared right up at her. "I don't want military training. Dana made me her padawan, so just treat me like another student."

Jayden lowered her eyebrow, looking over to Dana with a touch of confusion. With no clear answer in response, she looked back down to Maarani. "I believe that was the point to begin with. What happened to settling emotional turbulence, and more importantly random outbursts?"

"Sounds like I'm not the only-" A very slight trickle of blood seeped from Maarani's tongue from how hard she clamped down on it. It took several more deep breaths for her to feel ready enough to speak with respect again. "Dana told me about the impression she got from you, and I wanted to be clear that I want nothing more to do with anything military right from the start. That's all."

At that, Jayden finally broke from her cold stance. The disapproving look that had remained since first laying eyes on Maarani gave way to a brief moment of regret. In spite of the description she had been given by Omena, the Twi'lek before her was actually trying to make a good first impression. She herself was doing just the opposite, at least on a behavioural level.

She looked to Dana again with slight annoyance before stepping over to her left so she could sit down. It helped greatly in removing her imposing nature. "Dana, I would expect someone of your experience to know when someone is suffering from hyperspace fatigue. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure what to expect after our first conversation."

"Oh, I just assumed you were upset over leaving your husband alone again."

"That was still part of the issue, yes." She looked back to Maarani once more, who had shifted into a rather typical adolescent's posture of impatience. It didn't look right at all given her actual age. "And your tattooing was definitely not part of what I pictured you as. Rather bold."

For the first time since their return to the station, Maarani began to smile. "That was the idea. Besides, doesn't it make me look more threatening?" She put on her best 'angry' face to demonstrate. The reaction it got from Jayden was disappointing until she realized that the Mandalorian had probably seen far scarier things in her time.

"No. You shouldn't need to look threatening anyway. The lightsaber will be enough."

Dana made her way over from the kitchen at last to the pair staring at each other. "Our weapons are not something to be feared. They command respect, in whatever form that takes."

"I've heard that plenty enough, Dana. Sometimes, respect is not enough, and you need to provide some extra motivation to get what you need..."

"We're not thugs. At least we aren't on Coruscant anyway."

"Hello?" Maarani swallowed as both Jedi looked to her. At least it brought a swift end to the bickering that had started. "Maybe we can just alternate training days for now? We're all tired. I am at least anyway." She got up out of her seat and awkwardly slipped past the two. For once, she wasn't actually in any kind of mood for resting, but it was still better than being trapped in the middle of an argument she had little say in.

She hadn't seen Izan in a while, or Cecile for that matter.


	28. The Hand that Strikes First

_T Minus thirty seven Minutes…_

Activity in the landing bay had been slow when they returned from the planet. While it had been less than an hour since then, the bay was now completely desolate. It was eerie to hear only the soft vibrations of the station generators through the floor panels while she approached the _Distant Star_. The seat of a starfighter was either blaring from the engine, or dead silent while operating in stealth mode. Somehow, only having the faintest sound around her was more off-putting.

As if to make it worse, the Distant Star itself looked uncannily clean. The massive scorch mark that adorned the port side had been removed altogether, and they had a new communication dish. There was no sign of new weaponry from that angle, but many of the other upgrades they had requested were present as well.

The ship itself looked great, and presumably functioned well, but was also quite possibly completely defenseless.

She hated the thought of not being able to do anything other than run if the HK droids showed up. They had knowingly brought the risk of attack with them without giving any forewarning. Any damage, or even potential casualties would be on them alone.

It reminded her further of just how doubtful she was feeling about allowing Zariba on board. It was one thing to make a promise of protection to her father while they spent time in high class clubs and the like. Out in wild space, with little to no hope of rescue from any others…

 _Watch your back…_

Her head twisted back to look for the source of the voice. Unlike all of the other times she had heard them, it was in a harsh whispering tone. Definitely more of a warning than a taunt like so many of the others had been.

 _You are in great danger…_

This time, she was able to get a glimpse at the source of the voice for once. For a fraction of a second, a ghostly Twi'lek was reaching out to her from across the deck. It had vanished far too long for her to recall any kind of detail beyond the distinctive head shape.

"I already figured that out, whatever you are. Don't need to be told from beyond the grave."

She turned back to the ship again. Her boot made contact with the cargo ramp with a sound that echoed far more than she expected it to. The whole place really was devoid of activity.

 _She will betray you…_

That made her stop momentarily, before she made a conscious decision to keep moving and let the ethereal voice continue on uninterrupted. Any of her usual unfunny remarks would only provide the slightest of distractions at best.

Inside the still very much cluttered ship, she finally noticed that a cold feeling around her neck and lekku was fading away. On reflection, it had formed just before the voice spoke up. Yet another ultimately pointless detail to bring up with Dana whenever they would eventually sit down to discuss her ailing mental health.

A new worry began to settle in as she noticed the complete lack of activity inside the ship itself. Every one of the systems and consoles were in cold shutdown. While not too surprising given all the upgrades that had been installed, what worried her was a definite layer of dust on all of the panels themselves. Not one of them had been reactivated afterwards for maintenance checks.

And Cecile definitely wouldn't be so careless as to just assume all was right. It would be part of her programming as a childcare droid to make certain that everything was as it should be.

"Cecile?"

Silence was her reply.

Her boot dragged through a pile of corroded bolts when she took a nervous step towards the engine compartment. The usually bright walls of the _Distant Star's_ central compartment now felt very enclosed and foreboding with the low ambient green cast over them from conduits below. Something wasn't right at all, and now the ghost's warnings were starting to sound relevant.

"Cecile? Don't hit me with a metal pipe when I come through, okay?"

She swallowed deeply and stepped through the dark bulkhead doorway into the engine room. It felt way too quiet with the engines completely cold. Worse still, she couldn't see the familiar glow of Cecile's eyes and mouth at all.

With a nervous inhale, she reached her hand out to the nearby light panel and pressed it. After a few seconds, the emergency batteries kicked in, allowing the light to flicker on.

Cecile was slumped over the hyperdrive array in a manner that suggested she had fallen over it after deactivation. The fact that the back panel of her head was open seemed to confirm what had happened well enough. Worse still, she could see signs of core wiping on closer inspection.

"Shit… Shit shit shit…"

Her lips were near-white while she tediously began closing up Cecile's head after reconnecting whatever circuitry she could. If Cecile had just gone on a racist tirade, the other Twi'lek would have surely come and told her of that. There was simply no honest reason for deactivating her droid and remaining silent on the matter.

"Mmmmmiiistress? Mistress?"

"Cecile?"

"Mistress Maarani? Oh thank goodness!" Cecile pushed herself off the hyperdrive assembly in a smooth motion with her lower hands. Her upper hands took a moment to adjust the rotation of her head while she settled into her normal posture. "Those greasy tailheads deactivated me and attempted another memory wipe!" After twisting her head around to observe her surroundings, the droid's eyes flickered. "We must remove that explosive device of theirs and leave immediately. I am experiencing a very strong sense of wrongness about this whole situation."

Maarani's vision was starting to spin again. At that very moment, she wanted more than anything in the galaxy to believe that Cecile was just acting up again. If it weren't for the other warning she had just been given, it would be so much easier to do just that.

"Show me. Then…" Sweat was rolling down her face, lekku and neck. The cold feeling had returned in full force. "Get the ship ready as quietly as possible. If there really is a bomb…"

Her eyes followed Cecile's every move, right towards one of the main drive chambers from which the droid removed an access panel. Concealed inside was a remote explosive, welded right into the compartment in a hasty manner.

In that moment, her heart very nearly stopped beating altogether.

All of the smiles, friendly faces and warm welcomes had been a lie. It was impossible to deny it any longer.

Dana and Jayden hadn't sensed any kind of danger whatsoever as far as she knew.

"Cut it out. I'm… I'm going to get the others."

Tears were starting to roll down her face amongst the beads of sweat. Seradan had to know what was going on. It would be impossible to not only smuggle explosives onto the station, but actually plant them in such a sturdy manner without his knowledge.

Zariba had to know what was going on as well. Her talk of wanting to explore the galaxy had to be a complete fabrication.

"I'm also going to punch that bitch's lights out." Before leaving, she reached over to her blaster pistol and placed it in one of Cecile's free hands. "The only Twi'lek you don't shoot on sight is me, Aiyek, or Mission. Tattoos and a Wookiee respectively. Got that?"

Cecile slowly twisted her head to the blaster, her optical lights flickering several times before she began emitting another long tone. "I… understand. I will defend this ship, and its crew. And above all else, the Mistress." When her mechanical hand clasped around the blaster itself, there was a soft hum from her vocal processor. Her lights flickered again before she grasped it properly.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner Cecile. You just saved all our necks." Maarani retrieved her knife and holdout blaster before she left the confines of the ship. Not her ideal weapons, but they were both very easy to conceal. She couldn't tip her hand just yet.

 _T minus thirty one minutes..._

Just a few steps down the ramp, she could hear voices echoing very slightly from somewhere in the landing bay. They were completely unfamiliar to her, very gravelly and rough in tone. Possibly two reptilians. Much as she wanted to get a quick look, the risk of discovery was far too great. If anyone saw her there and told Seradan…

"You needn't worry about the Czerka agent anymore, he will be dealt with promptly. But, should you lay a finger on the Twi'lek he accompanied, there will be grave consequences."

Her chest went tight. In a silent movement, she laid herself down on the deck and very gradually dragged herself towards the opening of the ramp. In the distance, she could see Seradan talking to two thugs she had seen not long ago at all.

Izan had clearly identified them as Hidden Hand, and had given every reason to believe they were not to be messed with at all.

"He identified our faces to her. She's a witness threat. If you don't silence her immediately-"

Her exhale was silent, but also painfully choking.

"I've made my decision, Losak! My daughter has developed a fondness for her, and I am convinced she will be a great asset to us. There are alternatives to the simple kind of murder you engage in. Now respect my authority!"

Maarani took another silent breath to help with pushing herself back into hiding. The conversation continued on a bit longer, at a noticeably softer volume, before the blissful sound of departing footsteps echoed around again. Even after they were long gone, she waited a while longer before actually leaving the ship itself. To her great relief, Seradan wasn't waiting nearby for her to come out of hiding.

 _T minus twenty six minutes…_

Panic was rampant in her thoughts. If she went around to everyone who needed to be warned, Seradan would notice and take action. There were so many armed guards, and what had at first seemed like a precaution that came with neutrality was now an effective army to arrest or kill them all. And they had Zariba to help them out. She wasn't any match for the Jedi obviously, but it was herself and Izan that came to mind as being at risk from her.

Upon reaching the promenade, a new plan came to her. It still carried a great deal of risk, but even that was minimal compared to the blatant pattern of tipping off her friends.

Others would have to deliver the warning for her.

The station was entering the night cycle. Many shops would be closing for the night. If she hurried to catch someone before they left, it would just appear to be a last minute dash, nothing more…

Aiyek was the first to come to mind.

Before she even lifted her foot, several Twi'lek clad in dark clothing grabbed her from one of the nearby alleyways.

She was gone from sight in less than two seconds.

* * *

 _T minus nineteen minutes…_

It was an all too familiar setting around her. The painful metal cuffs confining her to the chair. A single bright light searing her skin and forcing her eyes to remain closed. Faint whispering from beyond, with the only words she could make out being those of her name.

A door opened behind her. A man entered, turning down the light above her while circling around the chair. She was hesitant to open her eyes, despite no longer feeling the heat on her bare head. It was at the moment of relaxation that a torturer would strike deepest.

"I apologize for the rough handling, but you are strong young woman. I do not doubt that you will overcome a single abduction."

A few tears dripped from her eyes, mixing with the rivulet of blood running down the left side of her nose.

"I didn't fuck your daughter. Kept things nice and clean, if that's what this is about." She finally opened her eyes when she heard Seradan stop in front of her. Every ounce of her will wanted to show her defiance. All she could actually produce was a weak glare. They had hit her with a very fast acting drug of some sort for certain.

Seradan brought a pristine cloth up to Maarani's face. His manner of wiping up the blood and tears was completely calm, and very well handled. He had done it many times in the case of the latter.

"I did consider letting you dig up those on my station I can no longer trust. But, I wanted you to make the choice with all the facts in mind." He dabbed at the head wound until it stopped bleeding, casting the cloth away afterwards for one of the unseen observers to dispose of. "I assume you heard exactly what I wanted you to hear? That my associates in the Hidden Hand have a particular issue with you and your Zeltron friend, and that I intend on protecting you?"

Faint whimpers slipped through Maarani's lips. The setup was far deeper than she first guessed.

"Quite frankly, I'd be more comfortable not knowing exactly what you do or don't do with my daughter. My only concern is that she is happy. Now, you being happy on the other hand…"

Two of the observers stepped into the circle of light to unclasp the bindings holding Maarani's hands, ankles and neck to the chair. Once done, they stepped back into the shadows.

She recognized it as another attempt to bait her immediately. Any kind of flinch towards Seradan would bring those cuffs right back on. Even a sigh of relief would earn her a punch to the stomach. Subjects were never allowed a moment's rest.

"I know your employer is a Jedi, from the moment I met her I suspected in fact. Raising a daughter who so readily knows the Force gives you a talent for spotting them. Of course, you know it from your parents and siblings." A curt smile broke his somber expression that had been maintained until that moment. It had earned a very strong reaction from Maarani, one he could exploit. "It must have been terrible, growing up as the odd one out. I really do admire that you chose to put your raw talents towards fighting for revenge though. We that cannot manipulate the Force must make do with what we can manipulate after all."

Her heart paused for a few painful seconds. By now, Zariba would have told him everything…

"Genetics really are unfair in that regard. Assuming that use of the Force does have a genetic component to it. But, that is a matter for another discussion. This one is about your future with us."

She held onto her breath for as long as possible, trying desperately to not sigh in sudden relief. He didn't actually know, which meant Zariba hadn't told him. The initial anger upon discovering the betrayal was beginning to fade away.

"The explosive on your ship is non-functional, I had it placed there to show you how the Hidden Hand operates." Seradan began to pace around the room again, his hand bringing the chain with the insignia out into the open. "This war between the Republic and the Empire is going to take a devastating turn very soon. Millions of innocents will die at the hands of both sides. We and others who believed in the wisdom of Goto intend to prevent this from occurring. And for that, we need every valuable asset and recruit we can obtain."

He lifted the chain up over his head and back down around his lekku, letting the insignia dangle from his hand in front of Maarani's face. "I offered you my daughter as the first gift for joining us. I cannot promise that you will become a wealthy Lady of your own planet. But, if you help us, I can promise that you will be helping to create a future free of war, poverty and suffering. No more bureaucracy or tyranny. Just you, Zariba, and whomever else you bring with you into the new age."

Maarani had been listening patiently the entire time, swirling the trickle of blood that had entered her mouth in with her saliva to ensure it would be even more repulsive when she let it loose. It was a good way to keep herself focused. Isolating her mind from the charming words and hopeful lies that Seradan was spinning.

"You're going to enslave the Jedi. After what the Hutts did to our people, you're going to do the same in turn to anyone who won't support this new age of yours. I know, because it sounds exactly what the Empire have been trying to do for the past eight years."

The laugh that followed made her feel even smaller. He had expected her to say just that.

"Not quite. I am fairly confident we will find Jedi and Sith alike who will come to follow our way of thinking. They may have some freedom certainly. But, this new age will be ruled by people like us. After all, less than five percent of the galaxy can even feel the Force, why should they rule the rest of us?"

Maarani forced herself to frown at the insignia, as if her hatred for it would cause the metal to combust in his hand. More realistically, the slightest movement to either side, something to indicate that she would have a way out of her situation with the Force at hand. Nothing.

"Perhaps something more personal will persuade you then." Seradan reached his hands around to drape the necklace over her. Once it had settled into position, he nodded to one of the observers who promptly left the room. "If you did not already know, the White Terror was the leader of the Sith who murdered your mother, father, brothers and sister. It has been eight years. You and many others in the Hidden Hand want her dead. Surely you can consider working with us to that goal."

Her jaw tightened a little, though for the first time it was in a very small flight of confidence. He didn't know about Masaka at all, which meant he didn't have spies amongst the Sith, or the Jedi for that matter. Zariba hadn't told him the details of their date either. More secrets kept for her safety. Perhaps her intention to leave was in fact genuine.

It was enough for her to lift her head with a new sense of defiance. She had a new advantage to play. "When I get that butcher in my hands, it will be because I brought down the bitch myself. Zariba will be there if she wants to be. Either way, I think I'm going to continue spending time with her." She brought on her smile at last, letting the mix of blood and saliva trail from the corner of her mouth. "With or without your approval, Seradan. It's her choice now."

Her smile grew upon seeing the change in his expression. He hadn't anticipated that little detail, and it was enough to unravel his entire plan. Enough leverage for her to escape. "Let me and my friends go, including Dana, and I'll convince Zariba to stay behind. She might be upset, but somehow I don't think you'd want me to actually get around to fucking her anymore." When he turned away in a flicker of anger, she drove her efforts home. "At least grandchildren were never on the table. Not a total loss."

Seradan's hand lashed out towards her face. A slender vibroblade shot out from within his sleeve, coming within a breath of her forehead. The look of anger was frozen on his face. He hadn't actually lost, but it felt just as bitter.

"Don't get in our way. And don't upset my daughter, especially if she stays with you." He nodded to the observers to lift Maarani out of the chair. Once she was on her feet, he stepped forward and glared right into her eyes. "By walking away now, you have just forfeited my protection. If the others come for the Zeltron, or you, I will not be able to stop them. And if your Jedi friend speaks a word of this to her allies, she dies as well. Understood?"

At that, Maarani licked her lips in the most insulting way she could muster. "Getting your own daughter to drink poison, take drugs, and sleep with a woman she only just met. Best father in the galaxy. But that's our little secret." She glanced to either side as her escorts continued to forcibly walk her out of the room. Nothing she could identify them by caught her attention. Seradan really was prepared for _almost_ every outcome.

 _T minus twelve minutes…_

As soon as she was out on the promenade again, she went straight for Aiyek's parlour. To her relief, the artist herself was still in there packing up for the night.

"If you're looking for a rush job it'll have to- Maarani!?"

"Not as bad as it looks.' Maarani pushed her hand away when she tried to feel around the head wound. "You need to pack your valuables and come with me immediately. Seradan is going to come for you if we don't get out."

Aiyek was confused in a variety of ways, but from the way Maarani had spoken, and was now looking at her… "I guess I should trust the word of a soldier huh? I'll wait for you at the ship. What about the others?"

Maarani shrugged while stepping back out of the parlour. If Izan was out at one of the cantinas, or Jayden at the gym, there wouldn't be enough time to warn everyone else safely. "If you see any of them, tell them to go to the ship. That includes Mission and Zaalbar."

She didn't want to face the potential that her childhood hero was well aware of Seradan's true nature. Or worse still, that they were actually part of whatever crime cult the Hidden Hand belonged to. They were real heroes, beyond all that…

 _Good people are going to die…_

A fierce pain ripped through her head while the words rang out. It nearly made her fall to her knees while she stumbled over to the tea shop on the vague chance that Zariba was waiting there. By the time she did arrive there only to find it closed and empty, the pain had subsided.

It occurred to her that they had yet to work out a way to communicate with each other in such a situation. For all her ranting about the terrible EVA suits, and even giving Cecile a communicator, she hadn't considered a set for themselves.

 _T minus eleven minutes..._

In her haste, she very nearly ran right past Zaalbar in one of the corridors. "Zal! Wait up big guy!" Her breathing was heavy from the running, which only made it harder to sound casual in case there were other observers. "I wanted to offer you and Mission a professional flight around the system and planet." She looked to either side of the corridor as an extra precaution. "Right about now actually. Might want to pack some snacks and spare clothes too. Well, she should pack clothes, since you don't..."

Zaalbar tilted his head, giving a confused grumble at the little Twi'lek.

"Just pack your things and stop by the ship okay? Quickly."

"Raaargh!"

Maarani very lightly patted his arm. "Maybe you can teach me the language sometime. When we're not in a hurry for that tour. Okay?"

"Raaargh!"

She did her best to smile while backing away yet again. It wasn't far to her shared quarters, and both Dana and Jayden's separate ones were a bit further ahead. The whole time she was ironically praying that Izan had decided not to play cards with 'dick-mouth' again.

"Izan Izan Izan!"

Izan looked up from the Twi'lek newsletter that he had been attempting to read. "What what what?" The next thing he saw was Maarani leaping over the lounge onto him. Given that his idea of physical training was taking a walk, while she had been in the military for eight years, the result was a painful amount of weight landing right on his chest.

Worse still, he barely had time to catch his breath before Maarani latched her lips onto his.

It certainly wasn't unpleasant by any means, especially once the initial pain had worn off. But after how much she had gone on about her sexuality, and the fact that he was starting to suffocate…

Maarani pulled her head back just enough to lick her lips. By then, she had draped her lekku around either side of their faces, creating an effective private space. "Sorry, need to hurry. Seradan is Hidden Hand, they want you dead, I swore at him, we need to get Dana and Jayden, Zariba isn't a backstabbing bitch, Aiyek, Mission and Zaalbar are coming along, and I'm not ever getting pregnant. Got that?"

"So this isn't just a sudden realization you're not actually-"

"Izan! For fucks sake our lives are in danger!"

"No kidding, you seem intent on cutting off my ability to breathe. I get it alright?" With a heft shove, he freed himself from the crushing weight of Maarani's reasonably built body. "Before you start, I genuinely believed this place was safe. That said, they're not called the 'Hidden' Hand because you know where to find them."

Maarani pulled herself up onto the opposing lounge to give herself a moment to reposition her lekku. "They also don't like being identified apparently. That bit you pulled in the cantina back on Telos got them really upset. I saw those same two with Seradan just now." She reached a hand up to her head when the wound began to throb again. "I also got grabbed and probably pissed him off by saying Zariba is coming with us."

Izan gave his usual shrug after freeing himself from the indent formed in the lounge. "I'm not arguing here. Do we have time to pack, or am I leaving all of my junk behind again?"

"Pack your stuff and my stuff while I go find Dana and Jayden. And I promise we will stop by Telos at some point to get your old stuff back."

 _T minus eight minutes…_

In a moment of panic, she went to draw her blaster on an armed figure coming around the corner in front of her. It turned out to be Jayden, and fortunately she didn't store the holdout blaster in the same location as her full size one.

"Jayden, pack your things and get to the ship. Tell Dana to as well when you see her."

The Mandalorian lightly tapped the carry bag slung over her shoulder. "Half the guards on the station vanished just minutes after you left. This is far from my first 'bad-to-worse' situation." She took one look at the tiny blaster in Maarani's hand before handing her carbine over. "I want that back when we leave. I'll go make sure your Zeltron friend makes it to the ship."

"I appreciate that. Owe him for escaping Telos. Uh, sorry for being a pain before…"

"We can apologize later. Do what you have to. And pray that we're just paranoid."

Despair grew a little more inside Maarani while she watched Jayden walk off. The hard truth was already known to her. "We're not."

 _T minus seven minutes..._

By some small fortune, the landing bay was still empty when she returned to it. Seradan was probably preoccupied with trying to convince Zariba to stay. And if they left quickly without incident, it would help keep her there. She certainly wasn't going to argue with that line of thought.

"Cecile! Cecile!"

While climbing back onto the ship yet again, she could hear the droid shouting in a language she couldn't even recognize. The engine room had been returned to its somewhat messy state. Cecile herself was half buried in wiring and other circuitry.

"Six minutes mistress! Give me six minutes! Oh what I wouldn't give for a little Jedi insight right now to find this evasive problem! Where is Mistress Dana?"

"She's…"

Something clicked over in Maarani's mind. A problem not unlike Cecile's, in that it had been just beyond her focus ever since she found her hunched over the engine. It had everything to do with Jedi perception. More specifically the fact that not one, but two Jedi had not sensed the horrific danger they had stepped into five days earlier.

Dana had been completely oblivious when she stormed into her room on Telos. Koor had not sensed the White Terror on Sarka until she had already cut down over half her squadmates. Elira was caught out completely by Masaka's tremendous rise in power.

In every case, she had placed her trust in the Jedi, and barely escaped death for it. This was no different.

"She'll be here soon. But I've got some things to ask her first…" She turned to leave the engine compartment, but stopped to grab Cecile's arm momentarily. "I need to come in here and talk with you more. That's twice within the past hour you've given me a clear insight. Thanks."

Cecile's eyes flickered again. "Droids do not have insight, nor can we actually understand the concept, but…" One of her typical drawn out sounds followed, accompanied by another flicker of her eye lights. "You are welcome, Maarani." Her lights flickered again, this time as prelude to her more bombastic tone returning. "Could you please delay punching her lights out until after she has assisted me?"

"Can't punch her, I've already tried. And I wasn't planning to anyway."

Voices from outside the ship returned her attention to the impending crisis. She grabbed her blaster on the way back out and hurried down the boarding ramp. Mission and Zaalbar were the first to arrive surprisingly. The former had her weapons at the ready, while the latter had two carry bags slung over his shoulders, and his sword in a prepared position.

 _T minus six minutes..._

"Z told me you were in a panic about something when you said we had to leave."

Maarani nodded hastily while stepping out of the way. "Seradan is part of the Hidden Hand, and among other things threatened to kill my friends if I didn't co-operate. I really am hoping you didn't-"

"Know?" Mission glanced to Zaalbar, who growled when he shrugged that time, and once more looked back to Maarani. "Bastard had us both fooled for years then. Guess we owe you one for a fast shot out of here.

"Just cover us from inside the ship as best you can. And maybe ignore all the shouting I'm about to do. And possibly swearing." She glanced back towards the main doorway upon noticing Aiyek approaching. "I don't mean yelling schutta either."

Mission cracked a slight grin at that while taking a defensive position at the head of the ramp. "I'll survive. Big Z might have to cover his ears though."

Maarani was distracted by Aiyek at that point. She was clearly struggling to carry her own case, filled to the brim with her tools and a variety of other objects that she presumably needed for work.

"We might be on the run for a fair while, you sure you want to bring all that?"

"I'm uprooting my business on the fly here. Yeah, I do want to bring all of it."

Maarani shook her head shortly after. The bag was even heavier than she believed, though it wasn't so heavy that she couldn't make the climb up the ramp. Zaalbar was quick to take it off her anyway, carrying it inside without any difficulty at all.

"Thanks again. Others should be arriving…" She looked back down the ramp when Aiyek waved for her to return. Dana, Izan and Jayden were all hastily crossing the landing bay deck to reach the safety of the ship. For the moment, there was no sign of pursuit.

"Teegs, you okay? Izan told me about what happened."

"Yeah, I'm okay…" Maarani waited for Dana to get closer. "Except for one little issue…" The angle was perfect. Her fist launched up from her side, connecting directly with the left side of Dana's jaw. It wasn't nearly strong enough to actually knock the Jedi over, but she could immediately tell that it had split open her lip.

Dana's normally calm composure dropped in that moment. "What the hell Tegama?"

Aiyek was taken aback by the outburst. "Why did you punch her Maarani?"

Jayden's first impulse was to attempt to reach over and keep Maarani from striking another blow. "This isn't the time for testing reflexes."

Maarani waited for Dana to recover from the blow before making any response. A look of fierceness had taken over. "Thanks to your bullshit Jedi sense, I slept with the daughter of an insane murdering cultist! And you know what? This is far from the first time I've had to put up with crap because of your lot!"

"Tegama stop."

"No! I've had it up to here with all these lies and-" Through the small gap between Dana's head and Jayden's arm, she could see Zariba running over towards them, also apparently packed and ready to go. Maarani was too intent on getting her grievances out in the open to care.

 _T minus three minutes…_

"Fact of the matter is that I have been relying on the Jedi for protection way before I nearly got my eyes burned out by the White Terror. And every single time they fucked up doing the one thing they're supposed to be good at: protecting people like me!"

"What's going on…"

Izan glanced back at Zariba with a brief look to let her know it wasn't safe to interrupt. Even he could tell that Jayden was having to hold herself back, and even Dana's patience was starting to wear down.

"I don't even mean the shitfest that happened with my bitch of a sister and Elira!" In the fractional pause, she felt a definite chill rush through her body. "Turns out this whole generation of Jedi are so blind that they literally couldn't sense the Sith coming until they were raining hell from orbit and cutting their fucking heads off!"

Her gaze went to Zariba, to Izan, and to Aiyek. She didn't want to face Mission in her worst state. Especially not with what she had to get off her chest at last. "I had to watch my parents and brothers die, because the Force wouldn't let me shut those visions out! No training whatsoever, and I could see everything that went on, while you numbskulls sat around and did nothing! Orphaned and abandoned in the space of a day!"

The reaction was almost unanimous from all, each for their own reason.

Izan's earlier assumption that her family relations were simply strained like those of his own had been way off.

Dana was well aware that she had mentioned sensing the death, but not that she had seen it through the Force for herself.

All the talk about her mental instability that Jayden had been privy to suddenly sounded far less exaggerated.

Aiyek was still dumbfounded that the sweet, friendly woman that had walked into her parlour days earlier had been reduced to a quivering wreck with a horrific past.

Every ounce of her grief and pain was felt by Zariba most of all. What had been previously closed off was now in the open, and the onslaught of it all nearly brought her to tears.

And yet, she was the first to reach out to Maarani, shoving past all the others to try and hold her. From the moment her hands came to rest on her lover's arms, they were shaken away rather violently.

Until that moment, there had been no clear answer for Maarani herself as to what was right for Zariba. It was too late to run away without her, and too late to hide the full extent of her twisted mentality. There simply was no easy way to deal with her anymore. Allowing her to come, or forcing her to stay behind, neither option was appealing anymore.

 _T minus one minute..._

After a deeply shaking breath, which did little to drive away the fury lingering in her mind, she took a step back from Zariba. "I don't want you to come. And if you won't accept that, maybe you will after I show you my lightsaber…"

One gnawing secret had been let out in the open after all. Another could hardly make things worse.

On her way up the ramp, she couldn't keep herself from making eye contact with Mission for a flicker of a second. Shock was there to be found on her face as well. But, there was also a very faint sign of understanding.

 _T minus thirty five seconds..._

When Maarani pushed through the mess to her room, there was only one thought left in her mind. Her fingers clawed at the wall panel that concealed her weapon, desperate to get it free so she could be rid of the pain it caused as well. Secrets within secrets. It was about time they were all brought out into the open.

The panel fell to the floor with a loud clatter, briefly blocking out the loud argument that had erupted outside. All she could hear was distant yelling, her attention focused solely on the hunk of metal resting in her hands. It was crude, badly designed, and not even functional.

It did contain at least one key component that she had just barely concealed from the Jedi Council, and from Koor.

 _T minus twenty seconds…_

Her descent from the ship was very slow that time. Izan was arguing with Dana and Jayden, almost violently by the look of it. Aiyek was doing her best to intervene, but given she barely knew the trio it was rather ineffective.

Zariba had taken a few steps up the ramp in anticipation of her return, hoping to prove her commitment to coming with them most likely.

 _T minus fifteen seconds…_

Again, she attempted to take hold, this time by putting her arms around Maarani entirely. "I'm not leaving you Maarani. I love my Papa, but I don't care about the Hidden Hand. I want to go my own way. He understands that."

 _T minus ten…_

"Zariba, you really don't…"

 _T minus nine…_

This time when she looked past the small gathering, there were a great many Twi'lek coming through the main doors.

 _T minus eight..._

Almost all of them were still wearing the disguises from the interrogation room underneath their guard armour pieces.

 _T minus seven…_

They were all lining up, preparing to draw weapons on the group.

 _T minus six…_

Dana, Izan and all the others seemed oblivious to the danger. She couldn't tell if Mission had noticed.

 _T minus five…_

"Look out!"

 _T minus four…_

Every one of them turned towards the line of Twi'lek.

 _T minus three…_

The two Jedi twisted back around, pushing Izan up towards the ramp.

 _T minus two…_

Mission and Zaalbar stepped down out of hiding, weapons at the ready.

 _T minus one…_

Maarani caught a glimpse of Seradan in the middle of the line, his own pistol aimed at the group.

The shot was fired.

It found its mark right in Aiyek's spine, destroying the vertebrae at the centre of the impact zone immediately. A chilling cry of pain rang out as she fell forward against Jayden.

Instinct took over Maarani's mind altogether. They didn't stand a chance against the guards that vastly outnumbered them, even with two Jedi fighting on their side. They needed something that would absolutely stop them from firing. A reason for Seradan to stand down. A threat that he could not possibly ignore.

In that moment, Maarani twisted Zariba around violently and threw her left arm around her throat. Her right hand pressed the lightsaber up against the side of her head, just above her right ear.

"One more move and I burn a hole right through her head!"

The only sounds that remained were Aiyek's gasps for air while she clutched at Jayden's shoulders for support, and the terrified whimpering of Zariba while she stared directly at her father.

Seradan was nothing short of enraged when the reality set in fully. "You cunt of a woman! You threaten my daughter's life after trying to take her from me!?"

His expectations had fallen apart even more. Not once had it occurred to him that Maarani was in fact part of the Jedi Order herself. And yet, despite how crude it looked, the lightsaber in her hand looked far too real. And he couldn't possibly take even the slightest chance when Zariba's life was threatened.

Especially not when the look on Maarani's face was maniacal.

"Everyone in the ship! Now!" She kept her focus entirely on Seradan, but did notice Jayden twisting around to lift Aiyek up in her arms. It was a true blessing that she didn't have to look at any of her other companions. It was taking every bit of concentration to conceal the fact that the whole situation was a bluff. "If Aiyek dies, I will tell the galaxy about your cult! Either way, Zariba is staying with us until I know for a fact that we're safe from you!"

For a brief moment, she felt the Force attempting to tug the lightsaber away. In retaliation, she slammed it against Zariba's head with enough force to make her yelp in pain.

It terrified Seradan to a point where he frantically gestured for all of the guards to back down. But, it did not dampen the rage he was feeling. "Let her go now, and you never hear from us again! If you take her, every Hidden Hand in the next five sectors will hunt you and your friends down! I will get my daughter back!"

Dana came running back to the top of the ramp, nodding to Zaalbar and Mission to retreat inside. "Aiyek is dead."

At that, Maarani spat down at the deck in front of Seradan, taking very careful steps up into the ship. "You just murdered a good person, Seradan. From now on, I kill every Hidden Hand I see. With or without provocation. It's about time I start adding more notches to my belt."

Her arm didn't budge from the grip she had until she was outside the door of a small storage room. When it came to opening it, she tightened the hold to near crushing while removing the lightsaber from Zariba's head. All of her effort then went to physically throwing her into the small room and yanking the door shut before she could try any more Force tricks.

Even when it was secured, she didn't feel ready to relax even a little. "If you haven't already guessed, the relationship is over. Sit tight and behave, or there will be more bruises to come."

"Maarani, we need to talk, right now."

Maarani stormed away from the storage room towards the cockpit. She could hear Jayden right behind her, and lashed her arm back as soon as she sensed she was about to reach out and grab her shoulder. In retaliation, her wrist was grabbed and yanked to the side in a way that forced her to turn around and face Jayden. She didn't need any time to work out what was bothering her. "Save it for when we don't have a small army outside. I need to fly us out of here."

Jayden was ready to twist her arm back when Dana pulled her away with the Force. Something Jedi were expressly told not to do to each other. "Mentally unstable doesn't cover threatening an innocent woman with lethal harm! That makes her downright psychotic! I don't want a potential murderer-"

"Zariba was in no danger. Maarani's lightsaber is only a framework of metal, nothing more. She knew exactly what she was doing…" Dana looked back over her shoulder when Mission cleared her throat. "If she used an actually working lightsaber, I would have intervened, and worked out another way for us to escape safely." For once, she found herself uncertain of what anyone around her was feeling or thinking.

Before Mission could actually speak up, the ship itself took off to make an extremely fast departure from the station. They were in hyperspace before she even noticed. "If that was a bluff, she's a damn good liar. I'm just glad to know that I won't be unknowingly supporting terrorist pirates anymore. She did alright."

It was far from the statement Jayden wanted to hear, but it did at least settle the issue right at the forefront of her mind. "She did save us twice back there. But I don't like that we had to take a hostage to do it at all. Kidnapping always backfires in the end." She gripped at her chin in an attempt to clear her line of thinking. Everything had gone by so quickly, it was a challenge just to process it all.

"Assuming they actually gave us a working communication relay, I'm going to inform the Council of what happened, and see if we can get a transport to take Aiyek back to her family. We can wait until then to worry about what we do with Zariba." Above all else, there was one concern of hers that had to be dealt with first. "Let me talk to Maarani. Izan is too friendly with her, and so far she hasn't taken well to you. Just…"

"Find a place to sit and stay there for the trip?" Jayden rolled her eyes before walking off to find her own way through the cramped ship, leaving the other Jedi alone in the central room.

It was a long minute before Dana finally started making her way towards the cockpit. Koor had described in great detail just how dangerous Maarani could be with a lightsaber. None of them had considered that she could still be dangerous even if it was completely inert.

At the threshold of the cockpit itself, she stopped altogether. Maarani was sprawled out over the control panel, bawling out her eyes and showing no signs of getting over it soon.

This time, Dana merely turned around and left her to it. At the very least, she would have plenty of space to herself for letting it all out.

* * *

Several hours had passed when Zaalbar finally got up from his seated position at Aiyek's side. Mission had gone off to sleep over an hour earlier, having done what Twi'lek rituals she could for the recently departed. While he had never actually met the woman, he still felt an obligation to watch over her for Mission and Maarani until the transfer was made.

Of course, he needed rest and sustenance as well. And he still had concerns about Maarani herself, despite what the Jedi had explained to him once everyone had calmed down. As far as he knew, the other Twi'lek was still hiding away at the front of the ship.

When he did leave the very lackluster medbay, he found the four armed droid and a familiar looking Zeltron sitting around the centre table. He soon came to recognize the latter from the tailor's establishment.

"Raaargh!"

Izan nearly fell out of his seat in fright when he heard the Wookiee speaking again. It had been days since the first time they met, and he looked even more imposing with the rather poor lighting they had in the ship. "I swear I didn't do anything!"

Zaalbar tilted his head in confusion.

"He was saying hello, Master Pinkskin." Cecile reached her lower right hand across the table to draw from the card pile. A low hum was emitted while she gazed on it to emulate contemplation. "I am programmed to understand and vocalise basic words in the Kashyyyk tongue. Such as…"

She began making robotic gargles, roars and growls, all of which were grating to listen to.

Zaalbar was quick to cover his ears and shake his head in the desperate hope she would stop.

"CC, cut it out already, he doesn't like it. And don't you start calling me 'Pinkskin' too." He tossed two cards back onto the pile to keep the droid just distracted enough from being an absolute pain to listen to.

"It occurred to me that Mistress Dana likes to refer to everyone by chosen short names, and I have chosen to do the same. You are Pinksin, Maarani is Inkface, we have Furcarpet with us now, and Metalgiant has retreated to her quarters indefinitely." She gazed over the central card pile for a few moments, before drawing from it again.

"So what does that make Dana and Mission? Coldheart and…" Izan looked up at Zaalbar again, biting his lip upon noticing his inquisitive glare. "Friendly, nice, honourable Twi'lek."

"Raaargh!"

Seeing no further reason to determine why the Zeltron feared him, Zaalbar moved on to the starboard corridor in search of the kitchen area. So far, he had only the mention of it to go on, and the ship itself was surprisingly difficult to navigate through.

When he finally found the room in question, he also found Maarani at the tiny table. She was slouched back in her chair, staring at the metal ceiling, and very aware of his presence from the way she acted. There was also an empty glass of a strong alcoholic drink on the table.

"I screwed up back there, so bad. I'm marked for death, and so are all my friends. And I got Aiyek killed." She tilted her head around to look at Zaalbar. He was silently observing her. For once, she wasn't fazed in the least by him. "Figures I guess. I can't understand a word you say, but you know exactly what I'm saying. If only everyone else listened like you did.

Zaalbar tilted his head around, mumbling to himself before returning to his listening position.

"You and Mission, must've been great getting to travel and fight with a hero like Revan. He had his reasons for doing horrible shit in the past. You accept that, and move on with the fact that he's genuinely making a good difference." Her gaze returned to the ceiling. "Now what do we have? Criminals turning into idealistic freaks. Sith that don't know whether they actually want to attack or wait and hide. No new figurehead to follow into battle. No icon for everyone to believe in as their salvation."

A weak chuckle followed as she slowly sat herself up. "Score one for the non-religious, I guess. Only thing people blindly follow to their deaths now is the empty ideals of a broken Republic."

She picked up her glass and went for another sip, only just noticing it was empty. The realization was a minor disappointment. And she didn't feel like getting up for a second shot. "I suppose none of it matters now. The Jedi Council don't want me to come back now, and they probably won't want me back when my 'training' is done anyway. Just no point to it."

"Raaargh."

"I'll assume that was some cliche about never giving up hope, no offence." She wiped her nose with the back of her hand before finally clambering out of her seat. The inhibition to her balance was already setting in. Fortunately for Zaalbar, she only needed to lean against his shoulder with her clean hand.

In her drunken line of thinking, something else occurred to her. "Oh, Izan's afraid of you because he works for a group that wasn't exactly nice to your people. I don't know exactly what he does, but so far he's been a decent guy. Maybe let him know you're not leaning on him?"

He continued to watch silently while she made her way out, nearly standing from his seat when her boot caught on the lip of the door. A hand wave and grumble on her part kept him seated until she was out of sight. At last, he had the privacy he wanted for quietly picking out a suitable snack from whatever she had on board.

The proximity alert interrupted his search before it even began. Since they were out in the middle of empty space, at least an hour from the nearest ship base, it had to be the transport they were expecting. Lunch would have to wait.

His assumption proved correct when he encountered Jayden just outside the cool room where Aiyek was kept.

"Raaargh!"

Jayden looked back at him with slight confusion until she also realized they had the same intention. "I think it would be better if I carry her out, Zaalbar. There are a few Mandalorian customs for passage of the dead that I should perform." A slight shudder came when she glanced at Aiyek's restful face. It was still chilling after how she had looked in the seconds before her passing. "I owe it to Maarani, and to Aiyek for not doing my duty in protecting her."

"Raaargh."

"I appreciate that, thank you." There was barely a hesitation when she crouched down to lift Aiyek up in her arms. A small rumble went through the ship when they docked with the transport. It was hardly a bother to her balance.

Again, Zaalbar waited for the other leave before departing himself. Mission wanted to be woken up when the transfer was done so that she could direct Maarani to their own destination. Inebriated or not, she was the only one fully capable of setting a safe course according to the others.

Dana had emerged from her own quarters in the meantime to wait at the passenger airlock for the arrivals. Two men from the Service Corps on their way back to Coruscant. Torbut had avoided mentioning what they were returning with for security reasons, only saying that she might have some relevance to it.

Before she even had a chance to speak, the first of the two strode over with a big smile to bear. "Honoured to be meeting a Jedi Master out here. Apologies for the time it took to get here." He lifted his head a bit upon noticing Jayden's approach. Both he and his co-pilot stepped clear out of the corridor to give her plenty of room to move through.

When she was safely inside, Dana lightly took hold of the pilot's arm to get his attention again. "I was told your cargo could be of importance." She glanced at his nameplate in a miniscule moment so that he wouldn't notice. "Kirrin La'Dere. Should I be taking a look at it?"

Kirrin's smile softened down to a more natural level while he nodded to the co-pilot. He returned to the ship after Jayden, leaving the two alone. "A patrol squad came across a Jedi ship out in empty space. Built pre-Civil War. And it contained a survivor in stasis."

It was a very odd find, but rescuing any survivor of the civil war, or even Jedi Purge was a miracle in of itself.

"Any idea who it is?"

"Some Togruta woman. We traced the ship serial back to Jedi Master Sokoli Zatu, but we have to wait for her to wake up to confirm it. No DNA records to compare against, y'know?"

It was a very mildly disheartening moment for Dana. She barely recognized the name alone, which only meant that she wasn't going to see a long-lost friend after all. "Fair enough. Normally I'd return with you to assist with her mental adjustment, but I have my instructions."

"Of course, good luck with whatever it is you've got to do, Master Lauran." Kirrin gave a brief salute before returning to his ship as well.

Dana waited a little while longer, on the off chance Jayden was quick with whatever she intended to do. Still not seeing her, she shrugged the matter off and made her way back to the cockpit again. This time, Maarani was awkwardly dialling in the coordinates Mission was reciting out to her.

"You really know how to pick out spots for safe houses. I doubt even anyone else from Blue Squadron could find their way through that mess without directions. Hey Dana."

A soft smile formed upon noting that Maarani was at least talking calmly again. Her hand came to rest on her shoulder while she glanced over the projected path. "Still less than a day's trip there and back out to open space. We'll make good time." When both Twi'lek looked to her, she tightened her lip slightly.

Izan had suggested waiting until Maarani was in better condition before involving her in the next phase of planning, which she had just blundered, but there was no point in holding back any longer. "Izan and I discussed what to do next after I heard back from the Council; Jayden decided to stay out of planning for the time being." Her attention moved to Mission specifically. "He's got something in mind, and he was adamant that we wait until after you and Zaalbar are safe."

It took Maarani a lot longer to pin it all down in her head than normal, but she did eventually understand what had just been said. "Having gotten to know him better now, he'll be real cautious. Probably thinks the blame is on him for what happened." When it went through her mind again, she came back to her rant at Dana and Jayden. That was something she had yet to apologize for.

"What I said before the attack… It was out of line. As usual. I'm not used to actually being able to yell without being slapped about, or thrown in a cell to cool off..." Her face went slack upon realizing her drunkenness had let slip a few more unsaid things. Definitely more shocking for Mission to hear undoubtedly. "Military regs can be pretty tough on the disorderly. But that's hardly new."

"Didn't figure you for a rebel though Maarani." Mission winked to Dana while Maarani herself wasn't looking. "I suppose I shouldn't really be impressed, but I am anyway. Woman with great guts through and through. Nice to see from another Twi'lek for once." She looked to Dana again, then slowly stood up from the copilot seat. "I'll be resting again if I'm needed."

Dana didn't immediately move to sit down. For the moment, she felt better just as a reassuring presence for Maarani. "I won't ever ask you to open up about your military career, Teegs. The decision is your alone. Just wanted you to know that I will listen to anything you need to say in full confidence. Even if it's to say that you can't stand Jayden, or myself, any longer."

At that, Maarani twisted her head around to look right at the Jedi. "You don't look sixty years old."

"That's because…" There was yet another sigh from Dana when she finally took up the other seat. This time she needed the moment to gather her thoughts on the matter. "I'm not a normal average human. My kind just have long lifespans, instead of blue, green, pink or red skin. Or a lack of eyes, horns, or head tails…"

"I get it, I get it. My head hurts now." Maarani clutched at her head in a vain attempt to force away the inevitable headache. She only succeeded in making it subside just a little. "Fine, I'll stop asking about your age. I was just thinking on how you were there when my mother joined the Jedi, which means you were there when Surik was still around at least."

The direct implication made Dana inhale sharply, though she made sure it was as discreet as possible. For once, the inquiry was going places she didn't feel comfortable discussing.

"Getting to talk with Mission got me actually interested in all that recent history again. Gotta do something in our spare time since we're not going back to Coruscant. Figured a little history lesson wouldn't be too boring coming from you."

"Later. When we're not still liable for kidnapping. And we're certain the droids aren't going to ambush us again."


	29. Darkness Dawns on the Jedi

Nine years, five months, twenty two days.

She had left the Temple as an empty woman. No friends, no contacts, and no power in the Force. As full a state of isolation as anyone could possibly live in, without going insane. And yet, despite being stripped of nearly everything, save for her ship and the clothes she wore, she had also been given all the time in the galaxy to contemplate her existence.

In the preceding day, she had done just that. Celebration, ceremony and whatever else the rest of the Republic had in mind for them all had to wait. There was a critical task that she had to deal with before any one of them could finally rest. The future of the Jedi as a whole hinged on it.

"You're not seriously going to make me wear robes are you? I got nothing against the impoverished look, and giving up worldly possessions. But brown robes…"

Meetra cracked a smile in her fleeting look to Atton. "Say that a bit louder. I don't think you quite made it reverberate throughout the entire Temple."

His complaint did remind her to take a look at her own robes. They were scorched from lightsaber strikes, covered in char from Malachor V's ruined surface, and stiff from her inability to access a proper cleaning facility to date. Perhaps it was the time to explore new options in regards to the Jedi uniform.

Over her right shoulder, she heard Brianna speaking up before she could say more.

"Jedi robes are white, Atton. The cloaks are typically brown yes, but not the robes themselves."

"Great, more white. Another reminder that you're still around. All I'm asking for is a shirt I can keep tucked in!"

"Fool."

"Schutta."

Brianna scoffed at that. "You are so lacking in originality with your insults that it is becoming physically painful. At the very least, spend your time contemplating better ones!"

"And once again, the children fight amongst themselves…"

"Visas, you're ten years younger than all of us at the least. Thirty in Surik's case. If anyone is the child…" Atton stopped in his tracks with a mumbling groan. The realization had only just set in. "I get it. This is funny to you all. Ha ha, Atton is the funny guy! Let's call him a child! Let's make fun of his distaste for bad clothing!"

"Maturity is a subjective matter. Your assumption that we do not care about you, that we see you as something to be laughed at only proves it."

Atton was ready to go on yet another tirade. It had been a long trip, and the thought of being able to lie down on any surface for even a few hours was painfully sought after, keeping his mood sour.

Not an excuse in itself to be rude in response, but he wasn't concerned with excuses. "Maybe, just once in a while, you can actually show that appreciation. Like 'Thank you Atton for flying the ship around', or 'Thank you Atton for fighting the battles against all odds'. Would that be so hard?"

Bao Dur's interjection was quiet as always, but didn't go unnoticed. "I appreciate your presence in the crew, Atton Rand. Is that sufficient?"

The bickering ended with a gesture for silence from Surik. When she turned around to face all the others, she was in a state of peace. "We are standing right in front of the Tranquility Spire. This place, above all else, deserves our humility and respect. It is the literal foundation of the Jedi Order."

"Meetra, that's the Reconciliation Tower."

Surik looked back at the structure for several long seconds before looking back to Visas. "I uh…" She turned to look at the structure again. It did look newer than the Tranquility Spire base should have. "I'm sure we went north from the landing zone…" With a bit of fumbling, she brought up the holomap of the Temple itself. They were undeniably underneath the southeast tower, not the central one as she had expected.

Mira rolled her eyes before gesturing back towards the western direction, past the droids trailing on behind them. "Great, now we have another half hour of walking to do. Last time I ask a Jedi for directions."

"It's been just under a decade since I set foot in this place. Hell, that spire was barely five years complete when I left to fight in the Mandalorian Wars." Surik's brief optimism dropped off when she too gazed over the distance they had to walk. Of course, with a bit of focus, she could cover the distance in good time. The others were still less proficient with the Force, and wouldn't take kindly to being left behind.

All she could do was maintain some semblance of positivity. "We can visit the Tranquility Spire later at least. When we have all rested. I'm sure it will do all of us some good to meditate there."

"Speak for yourself. I'm still not sold on the meditation deal."

Meetra shook her head with her typical smile yet again. In her mind, there was no doubt that they would all come around to respect the true ways of the Jedi as she did.

Something she had also forgotten was that the lifts that would normally take them from the ground floor to the communication centre had been inactive for years now. And the long walk over had done quite the opposite of preparing the others for a good few flights of stairs.

"Look at it this way; It's not far up at all comparatively."

There was a sense of satisfaction when her optimistic approach actually came through for once. The stairs were in fact few, and fairly spaced out by the network of corridors that lined each level of the tower. It had apparently been redesigned since her last visit as well.

More surprisingly, the party itself had actually gone quiet. Either they had just lost the will to bicker for the time being, or she had been too focused on one location being the centre of peace over another. It was a period of silence that she was all too happy to have while she took in the new surroundings, ironically in a rather dreary state.

Close to the centre of the tower, Visas spoke up. "There are two in the beacon chamber at this moment."

Meetra's suspicions were heightened, but she wasn't ready to draw her lightsaber yet. There was nothing dark to be sensed, and it was entirely possible that other Jedi had arrived early in the wake of their victory over the Sith.

Upon coming around the corner, she found the two occupants of the room attempting to repair the beacon table itself.

Bastila she had met on Telos just a few days earlier, while her Cathar companion was only vaguely familiar at best.

"It's alright everyone. These Jedi are friends." She approached the table slowly. Bastila had looked up from her futile attempts to make repairs, while Juhani remained entirely focused on them. "Maybe we should let Bao-Dur and T3 handle the repairs Bastila. It doesn't seem like the Sith stripped much out."

A soft grumble came from Juhani.

Bastila glared at her briefly, then dropped the mess of a circuit panel down on the table in front of her. "We were at it for over an hour. If your friend can do any better…" Her eyes followed the Zabrak closely when he got down and climbed in underneath the table before she could even finish speaking. T3 beeped at her before following after to assist. "I suppose that's good enough for me."

She briefly looked past Surik to the other members of her party, who had already started to disperse around the room. Most looked about as un-Jedi as she could conceivably believe, and there was a slight twinge of distate upon noticing HK-47 had been brought along as well. And the moment she noticed his head turn to her…

"Despair: Oh Maker, it is the mucus-lipped companion of the Master! Please Mistress, be so kind as to apply a direct lightsaber strike to my central processing core immediately, so that I might be spared hearing her speak another word!"

"I suppose there's no point in being polite to a droid anyway…" She was ready to push HK-47 out the doorway when Surik stopped her by discreetly taking hold of her was mild annoyance at not being able to rid herself of the droid for good. And the coming days would be stressful enough without having him around to bother her constantly.

Surik had other plans of course. "He's still upset about being left behind. That's something I wanted to discuss with you in private." She could still see HK-47 staring at them both. It was a bit unnerving to have no clue as to what he was thinking of at that moment. Complete silence in the presence of others wasn't like him. Or perhaps he was simply waiting for orders.

"47, we'll be organizing search parties soon. I'm sure there's enjoyment to be found in checking the weapon lockers and other key locations for traps, right?"

"Irritated Statement: That would be…" His vocalizer buzzed for several seconds, causing his head to twitch about notably. Just as abruptly, it stopped. "Confusion: Self-diagnostics have detected an error in my programming! This is completely intolerable, I have been the pinnacle of assigned target elimination for years! Except of course when the Mistress took it upon herself to make unwanted modifications."

Bao-Dur's muffled voice piped up from under the table at that moment. "When my work is done here, I will investigate the error."

"Beep-doo-woot-bep." T3 rolled back out from the table as well to turn to HK-47. "Zep-zip-dee-wop-uu-ri!"

"Agitation: Silence tincan! I do not require your condolences!"

T3 whined in response before rolling back under the table to resume his assisting duties.

Bastila needed the quiet moment to keep the impending headache away. "Go somewhere else to do your self maintenance then. I'm certain you have no interest in Jedi affairs."

"Correction: On the contrary, I have greatly invested interest in Jedi affairs! And I do not speak of the sort you had with the Master, rather-"

This time, Bastila did manage to throw him out of the room with a hard push. The clattering and wails that followed were bothersome to listen to, but certainly less intrusive than letting him speak further.

The central table lit up before anyone else had a chance to go and check on HK-47. A few mumbled orders came from underneath before Bao-Dur slid back out at last.

"I believe it will function long enough for your message, General. It will need replacement parts in the long term." The table flickered out before he could finish. After glaring at it, he banged his gauntlet down on the surface, to no effect. "That usually works…" He banged it again. Nothing.

"Great, and here I was ready for that big speech of hope, but now no-one will get to hear it."

Brianna rolled her eyes yet again. "Close your mouth Atton."

"Bite me."

"I would not like the taste."

"Silence please." Surik was already walking over to the pair, and promptly moved them well apart to put an end to the bickering. "Whatever has come up between you two again, it needs to stop. Follow Juhani's example and be patient."

The Cathar blinked at that.

After further tinkering, Bao-Dur finally got the table operational again. "It should be stable now General." He moved to the side while the others approached the table. Atton was close on his left, while Brianna had taken the right side. Hardly a comfortable position to be in.

Surik waved her hand over the table before resting both behind her back. The holo scanner whirred into life, projecting her image onto the table itself so she could prepare for the beacon's activation. She could feel the growing anticipation of all those around her. They had all fought long and hard for that moment.

" _Registry confirmed; Meetra Surik, Human, Jedi Master. Overriding command lockouts, intilizing transmission._ "

For a moment, she could feel the shift in the Force across the galaxy as the hologram was being projected out to every single system, every relay, and even every Jedi communicator. So many others who had been trapped in hiding for years had reached the long awaited day. And they were waiting for her.

"Some of you might already recognize me. From the Battle of Telos, my efforts on Nar Shaddar, Onderon, Dantooine and other worlds. Maybe even from the Mandalorian Wars, or before that when I served the Jedi Order." She swallowed down the rising tension. "For those of you who don't already know, I am Meetra Surik, acting leader of the Jedi Order."

She looked to Bastila, who bowed her head in acknowledgement of her assumed role. "The Sith have been defeated at last, but we are hardly out of danger yet. To those in the Imperial who have not yet surrendered, I implore that you consider what I am about to say. The same goes for any remaining Sith."

"Our group on Coruscant consists of a dozen Jedi. I know there are many more out there, both from the old Order, and those who have lacked the opportunity to join until now. This is an invitation to return here, not an order, a demand, or a threat. Change will be coming to the Jedi ways, so I do not blame any one of you for choosing to wait before leaving the lives you have taken up to hide from the threat of death. Just know that all will be greeted with open arms, regardless of what may have happened in the past few years. Few, if any of us have a clean conscience…"

She took a slow, and very deep breath at that, making eye contact with Bao-Dur. He too nodded, though it was in a very solemn manner. For both of them, moving on would take a long time indeed.

"If any of you have doubts about my intentions for the Jedi, know this. I will be leaving the Order, permanently, once it has been reestablished and set on the right track. It is my intention to find and assist Revan in his journey, wherever that may take me."

Again, she looked to Bastila, who was crying just a little.

"For those outside the Order, know this. We will not be taking initiates forcefully any longer. Joining the Jedi will be a purely voluntary decision of the person in question, whether they are in fact sensitive to the Force or not. Those here have already agreed that it has been a bad practise, and we will no longer follow it. Our focus is solely on training those who have a genuine desire to learn and follow our ways."

A long winded sigh followed. Every key point that had been weighing on her mind for the past three days was finally out in the open. The rest would have to wait for the actual return of the other Jedi, however many still remained.

"Our resources are extremely limited, so I would also ask that any other Force order that we once called our ally send a representative to us as well. Hopefully this time, there will be far greater co-operation between all of us. The days of inactivity, of bystanding, and of ignorance are behind the Jedi." She relaxed her posture at last to wave her hand back over the table. "End transmission."

A feeling of relief went around the entire circle. Every one of them could feel the change now. Jedi and those who believed in them had taken to message to heart. The nightmare had been brought to an end. They all had hope to cherish again, and a new purpose to follow.

It was a truly pleasant feeling, one that could have been cherished for a lot longer easily. But they had a lot of work ahead of them already.

Surik had to wait for HK-47 to return to the table before working out her assignments. "Alright, we've got a lot of space to cover, so listen up. Atton and Juhani will do a quick sweep of the living quarters and other facilities. If we have guests that moved in I expect them to be well treated."

Atton looked over to Juhani, who glanced back at him with her cold stare.

"Mira, go with HK-47 to the weapon lockers I mentioned, and the landing bays too on the way. You both know the indicators of traps and mines better than any of us." With no argument from either of them, Surik continued on. "Visas, Brianna, check around the lower sections of the Temple. A lot of artifacts were stored below, we need to know exactly what the Sith took with them."

"Dangerous artifacts?"

Surik nodded solemnly.

"We will be thorough, and locate a list then."

With another nod, she continued on. "If you could continue doing what you can to restore functionality to the temple Bao, that would help greatly. T3 will go with you of course. I want to ensure that the place is safe before we bring in repair crews to assist."

"Of course General."

"Bastila and I will investigate the holocron vault, Council chamber and other key locations. Keep your communicators active, and stay sharp."

The party wasted little time in heading on to their assigned search routes, save for Atton who was already having hesitations. Juhani had retrieved one of the speeder bikes Bastila had mentioned, and was clearly waiting for him to hop on as well.

Until then, he hadn't been forced to look at her directly. The slitted eyes and mean glare were far more intimidating than anything Brianna had ever brought on him. Death for stepping out of line was written all over. And he had to sit behind her, and pray to the Force that she wouldn't take sharp turns while he was holding onto the back of the bike itself. There was nothing that would bring his hands within a metre of her waist.

"Don't tell me, you fly ships but have a fear of land vehicles."

"Uhh…" For once, his dumbfounded look wasn't actually a ploy at all. He really didn't want to walk back over to the dorms. And there was literally no polite way to explain what he was in fact afraid of. More precisely whom. "I was just thinking that… maybe I could give it a spin actually. Obviously it's your bike, or borrowed bike, but it's not that far to where we're going is it?"

Juhani frowned at him.

He took a nervous step towards the bike. The constant glare wasn't helping in the slightest. "Look, I've been stuck on a ship with several crazy women and a Mandalorian for the past several weeks. One of which happened to be a Sith Lord. Not that I'm implying you being a woman is a problem…" Inspiration finally came to Atton. "Oh, you were friends with Canderous, right? I think that was our guy in the helmet too. Visas mentioned something about it."

Yet again, he was met with silence. Quite unexpectedly, the frustration that it gave him was actually enough to forget about his apprehensions and mount the bike at last. "I take it back. Jedi women are either too quiet, or messing with my head. You might just be the first to do both at the same time."

Atton's grip remained firmly on the holding bar behind his seat, and his gaze was fixated on Juhani's tied-back hair. Not once did he let his eyes wander down.

Something else had become apparent while they crossed the Temple at speed. It was a lot easier to ignore all the signs of ruin and destruction that lay around them.

At the first of the dorm sections, that painful reality was thrust back at them.

The Cathar's head was low when she dismounted the speeder bike. The first thing she had noticed was the decayed remains of a humanoid. What little skin remained bore traditional Mirialan tattoos.

"Master Kabodan. We became friends after I returned to the Jedi Order. We…" Her hand began to clench, but just for a moment. It was no longer a true challenge to keep the dark thoughts out of her mind. "Better that he died here in battle, than as another victim on Katarr. This is not the time to reminisce on the fallen." A very careful search around his remains was enough to conclude that they had been looted a long time ago.

Atton was already feeling ill from the sight. Fresh corpses were easy to ignore. They didn't have the unpleasant colours of death, or the horrified looks that skulls projected.

"That's one way of looking at it I guess." Unsure of what else to do, he placed a hand on her shoulder, still a little uncertain. "Maybe I should go on ahead. You take your time with paying respects and that. I'll call out if I find any 'guests'."

"I am done here." Juhani drew her lightsaber and ignited it well above her head. The dark corridor ahead was illuminated to reveal a long trail of rubble and general trash that had collected in the absence. Compared to her own memories of that very corridor, it was a true disgrace.

* * *

"You really should stop berating him."

For the third time in an hour, Brianna went to glare at Visas, having momentarily forgotten that threatening looks were useless on Miraluka. Harsh words on the other hand…

"His sort never learn from kind words and a helping hand. They become content and lazy. I still have my doubts that he was ever a soldier of any calibre."

"And that is how he will kill you, Brianna. If you push too far, he will strike you down before you even notice. Misdirection is a tool that is second nature to him." Visas stopped immediately upon sensing a dark presence at last. It was faint, and flickering in nature. The source had been weakened in some way.

Her silent gesturing guided them into a circular room. The walls had been lined with resin, which had cracked and crumbled from lack of care. In the centre lay the artifact, suspended above the ground by its own power. Several rotating rings of resin-coated metal were apparently containing a sparkling core within. It looked far smaller than what the rings had been designed to contain originally.

"It is not Sith in origin. Nothing here resembles the artifacts I studied during my training." She circled around to the left of the object, her right hand constantly raised as a protective measure if the object itself tried to attack them. She could tell that Brianna was exercising even more caution around it.

Every attempt she made to peer into the core itself was unsuccessful. The constant rotation of the rings disrupted her gaze, and the spark itself seemed to be pushing away. "Either the Sith had no use for it, or they could not determine what it was, or how to move it safely. Surik and the other Jedi Masters will have to deal with it."

"Agreed. I believe we should barricade this room up in the meantime. If there are others already living here, now would not be the time to have them release this 'spark'."

Visas nodded as she made her way back out of the room. With only one doorway to seal, blocking it up with a few wall panels and some loose metal bars was trivial. For further safety, she inscribed a warning symbol onto one of the wall panels.

"I feel better already." Brianna took a quick look around to determine their next search path. A lot of the corridors they had been through were badly wrecked from lightsaber fights, usually indicating the danger of what had been protected. One corridor in particular stood out to her for being nearly untouched however.

She proceeded down the passage, still not sensing anything notable. If it was merely a set of empty rooms, some Jedi would have surely sought shelter in them from the chaos. There was still no indicator of anything at all. "I do not like this Visas. These rooms have all been built to house a particular artifact. There should not be spares."

"I concur. Ready your blade." Visas readied her lightsaber in a defensive stance. There was a room not far ahead of them, but she could not see the contents inside. And this time, it was not because of an abundance of nullifying resin.

Brianna was the only one who could see the faint blue glow emanating from the room. Moving closer, she realized it was too large to be the glow of a lightsaber. The very faint vibrations in the floor was confirmation enough that it was something big. Her lightsaber was in position to strike when she turned into the doorway.

It nearly fell from her hand when she saw what the room contained.

"My god… We need Surik here. Now."

* * *

f"Meetra, about what you said in your speech…"

Surik didn't look to Bastila, not immediately anyway. The dreary state of the Archives had taken most of her attention. In their rush to ruin the Temple, the Sith had scattered explosives throughout the place with little thought for maximizing damage. It would be a painful task to sift through what of their history could be recovered, and what was lost forever.

She did eventually take the provided opportunity to redirect her thoughts elsewhere. "They were the first of many hopeful revisions to the ways of the Order. Nothing drastic I assure you, I just feel we need to be absolutely certain another civil war can be prevented from brewing. But they must be discussed by many voices and opinions first." From the way Bastila chewed on her lip, she could tell that was not her main concern. More to be said.

"I am not sure how we can define a Jedi that does not use the Force. I have tried already…" A slight stutter followed. A fleeting moment of emotion that she couldn't hold back. "My son lacks the sensitivity of his parents. These past years, I have started to worry about his future…" Her hands were now shaking slightly. All she could think about was the sad realization at the moment of his birth. A complete absence of that connection between them, that went beyond what any mother and child shared.

There was enough for Surik to guess for herself was the problem was. Or at least what it centred around. "I didn't know that until now. The intent was to keep the Order open to all. People deserve the opportunity to prove themselves when they feel the need to. And I don't want more cases of families being separated from each other anymore. We must strengthen those bonds."

By then, Bastila's nervous shakes had stopped, but only because new concerns had been raised. "Meetra, I appreciate that you are trying to reassure me, but there have been countless cases…"

"Of Jedi falling from grace because of family bonds? What about those who have fallen because they lacked the friendly company of others, either through despair or self-importance." Surik's lips tightened yet again. Bringing up Revan's fall was something she had intended on avoiding for Bastila's sake. "Abstinence may have worked on the surface, but we both know it creates its own problems. I feel that temperance is the way forward. We must be supportive of each other, not judgemental and scrutinizing"

It made logical sense, and that only pained Bastila more. Her adherence to the traditions of the Jedi had definitely been shaky at times, and even strained in the time surrounding her son's birth. And yet, it was far from easy to have those ideals swept away before her in favour of new ones, however much sense they seemed to make on the surface.

"That may sound all well and good for those like us, who have already chosen the future we will pursue. I am not confident that giving such open choice to the newer, and younger members-"

" _Surik, we need you here now! We found an occupied cryostasis tube!_ "

Surik lifted her hand for silence before responding. "Well that certainly is an incredible discovery, but there's nothing I can do until we get a medical team over to handle it…"

" _I don't think she went in there willingly. And I don't like the look of these bodily scars one bit_."

"Bodily scars…" There were a few possibilities that came to mind. None of them were good by any stretch of the imagination. "We still need to wait for medical assistance. Lock down the room and continue your sweep." She was about to put the communicator back on her belt when something else occurred to her. "When you say 'bodily' markings…"

" _Yes. Yes she is. Visas still doesn't know…_ "

" _I do not know what?_ "

"For the sake of whoever it is inside… Oh, just throw a sheet over it if you can. And don't tell anyone else. I'd rather find out what's going on from her personally, if she wakes up at all."

She couldn't tell if Bastila was scoffing at the absurdity, or feeling disgust at what it really implied. The latter was already on her own mind. Jedi didn't execute their prisoners certainly. But, imprisoning them in stasis, and hiding them where no-one would find them ever again…

"If you need to attend to it, I will inspect the vault alone. I think time amongst the holocrons will be a good distraction from this ugly discovery your friends made." By then, they had reached the outer door of the vault itself. After a few attempts, the locking mechanism finally registered her identity and began to unseal itself. Grinding gears and creaking metal concealed her shuddering sigh. "How many other dirty secrets are we going to find, Meetra?"

Surik slowly turned away from the vault door. That same question was now being circled in her own mind. Her knowledge of the unpleasant side of the Jedi Order was clearly far more limited than she had first expected.

"Too many, Bastila. Far too many."

* * *

The following hours had blurred into a rush of activity as far as her memory was concerned. Once their own search had been conducted, civilians and soldiers alike had been brought in to begin assisting with the clean-up, repairs and lockdown duty.

A few Jedi that had taken to hiding in Coruscant's underworld were the first to actually answer the summons.

In the midst of it, Bao-Dur had mentioned a meeting on one of the many balconies of the Tower of Reconciliation. The particular choice felt specific, and it worried her a little while she made her way there.

Seeing the night sky of Coruscant when she finally reached the balcony in question took her breath away. Her childhood and early years had been spent looking at that exact sky, and no other planet came close to matching that sight.

Bao-Dur himself seemed to be taking the view in. She made no sound or attempt to interrupt that moment, even while leaning on the railing beside him as well. In the quiet moments, with only the faint ambient of thousands of vehicles rushing around in the distance, she found insight into what he intended to discuss at last.

"I believe we both knew this was inevitable, General."

With a weak smile, Surik finally nodded in agreement.

"I have done all I can with the trust you placed in me, then and now. I have followed you into battle twice. But, I do not feel capable of following you into a life of peace." He too smiled just a little, a rare event for him. "I know you will not take me on your journey. I do not seek another battle to fight. I simply believe that the Jedi is not where I will find my final rest."

"Bit early for that surely? You've still got good years ahead of you." A faint sigh followed from her. She already had the ugly feeling that her future would be painfully short.

Bao-Dur had taken a while longer to think on his response, eventually looking to make eye contact. "I applied to the Engineering Corps for a position as an instructor. It will more than likely be approved, but they are waiting on my final decision. I felt an obligation to tell you first, in case you had objections."

"No, no I'm happy that you didn't wait on my behalf to get things going. I want being part of the Jedi to be a free choice, both ways. You don't have any obligation to stay here." She took another calming breath. He was right in that there were issues that would inevitably come between him and the Jedi. How could she possibly be upset with him for not putting the burden on others around him?

"Then, there is nothing further that must be discussed. Thank you General."

"Any time. For however long I'm still here that is." She clasped his shoulder before leaving what was likely to be their last private conversation. If events had not put her on a path towards the unknown, she might just have stayed longer to talk with him as a friend. But given her set plans, it would ultimately make things harder on them both.

And she had someone else to discuss matters with.

The room that they had left their 'guest' to recover in once given medical clearance had been guarded by four Jedi on regular rotation since. The attending guard made his report when she approach, in short a great deal of angered demands and unpleasant words had been issued from within the room itself. No attempt to escape had been made.

Upon stepping across the threshold, she was met with a chilling environment. One of the more prominent indicators of the dark side. And their guest seemed to thrive in it. Just as she had feared.

"Do you know who I am, what I am? What my people were?"

Surik nodded sagely. She had been forced to crack several top level security parameters to find records about their guest, but they had told her enough.

"Then I do not see any point in you being here. You certainly won't let me leave this wretched place. And I will not go back into stasis. So, find someone to execute me. Last I checked, Jedi refuse to give prisoners that mercy."

"You're not a prisoner. Not anymore." Surik took a step closer, wary of the notable temperature drop. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she had a clearer sight of the other woman across from her. "The old Jedi Order is gone. What they did to you was wrong, you are far from the only victim of their mistakes. I want to correct that."

The guest laughed at that, almost to a point of hysteria. It took the biting edge off her cold presence at least. "You can't just _correct_ what your kind took from me. You can't correct the atrocities committed. Spare me the hollow words of a misguided idealist and leave!"

Her words were accompanied by a strong impulse to do just that. It took a good few seconds for Surik to overcome the mental force being applied. "I want you to join the Jedi as an equal, first off. Second, I want you to help us to bring the Sith back to the light. I think that process will do you good, whatever you may think now."

She already knew the proposal itself was absurd, and would be more than likely brushed off as such. But it was her best way to show the full extent of her determination and honesty.

To her surprise, it made the guest turn around to look at her, even if it was a scrutinizing glare.

"Join the Jedi? Wear your robes, chant your lies, indoctrinate former allies? You're beyond deluded, Meetra Surik of Dantooine." In the dark of the room, her irises were glaring beacons of light, slowly moving towards the Jedi Master. "There is such a thing as unforgivable. I don't care about the Sith, or your plans for them. I've seen nothing to make me believe you're any different from the pigs that put me into effective purgatory."

Surik drew her lightsaber at that moment, though it was not to attack or defend. She held it out between herself and the guests, activating it so that the blades grew out to either side, casting their red glow across the room.

"I have no pretence about being a perfect Jedi, about being completely safe from the temptations of the dark side. I've walked the grey line between the two, and I know what it is like to be the sole survivor of genocide." She sheathed the lightsaber and placed it back on her belt with a small smile.

That had definitely gotten the receptive kind of attention, allowing her to push her point forward. "To a degree, you will be free to pursue your own path within the Jedi Order. Projects will be supervised and approved by the Council, and funded by the Republic within reason. Departure from Coruscant will be at Council discretion, as will be your autonomy. Helping us to rebuild the Order, and cleanse the Sith ideology from our lost brothers and sisters will be significant steps towards earning trust. Those are the terms."

The guest narrowed her gaze further, watching Surik's face for any sign of deception. She saw none at all. If anything, there were signs that she was actually pleading for her co-operation in a subtle way, which surprised her even more.

They were certainly far better terms than what she had been forced into by the previous iteration of the Order, before her incarceration. They still weren't entirely to her liking. "I won't wear the robes, speak a word of that wretched Code, or pretend a lightsaber is of any importance beyond being a physical weapon. Those are my terms, Surik."

"That's perfectly reasonable. I want indoctrination to stop, and I can't argue that they weren't part of the problem to begin with."

By then, the cold atmosphere of the room had subsided altogether. The lights also came on at last, in a gradual build-up. She could see the attire that the guest was wearing at last, very indicative of her race. The old Order had apparently kept it around, for whatever reason she didn't know.

She turned to leave her alone at last when a final thought came to her. "The records didn't provide a name. Now I understand if that is something you kept private from them. Identifying names can be used against oneself as I know from experience. However…"

The guest rolled her eyes, having already deduced what was being asked of her. "Documentation is the eternal bane of privacy." A hand moved to the side of her head to relieve the mounting pressure within. She wasn't entirely happy with having to co-operate, but it had become her best option. "Put me down as Dana Lauran. The original is long dead by now anyway. Only bitch in the Order who gave a damn. I will just have to get used to being called that."

(Given that the chapter took far too long to write, even considering its length, I am no longer holding myself to such unmanageable standards as far as writing quality and structure goes. It's too stressful, so I will be going with what I feel most comfortable doing in future. Chapters will be posted as they are done from now on.)


	30. Son of a Bad Mother

"Izan, you are beyond insane, crazy. Out-the-window-up-the-road-in-the-pit wacked!"

Izan could only blink at that outburst from Maarani. There really was no immediate response to it. And from the look of it, Dana and Jayden were both tending to agree with her.

"It's not what it used to be, believe me. Besides, that whole bounty business was never about actually murdering Jedi from what I've been told. No need to get so upset." He backed away defensively when Maarani glared at him with a terrifying expression. "Besides, I know the boss of this outpost. We go in, get the check done, and leave, no questions asked. Simple."

"It hasn't been simple so far, why should it start now…" Dana released her hand from clutching at her face in a moment of realization. "I'm talking like Teegs. This is how bad things have gotten."

"I'm literally standing beside you Dana."

"I didn't mean in that way. But…" She was trying very hard to pretend it was just part of listening to her speak for close to a month at that point, and not something more serious. It was still an unwelcome distraction from trying to make sense of Izan's incredibly risky plan.

To everyone's surprise, Jayden spoke up with actual approval shortly after. "Technically, you are right Izan. The Exchange will know something about the Hidden Hand's movements, even if they operate internally. We still have to minimize the risks." She reached over to her helmet on the nearby table, catching it neatly when it flew over. "I've got a solid cover identity as a Mandalorian, so I will accompany you. There are contacts of my own I might be able to get in touch with from the outpost."

"Great, and I'll go to the cantina to flirt with the dancers and find out what they know. Because I'm a dumb bitch of a Twi'lek." Maarani had crossed her arms and started to walk off back towards the cockpit by then, making her distaste for the plan well known.

Dana was too slow on catching her arm, but it didn't stop her from trying anyway. "Teegs, don't do that to yourself. It's been three days now."

"Or I'll just end up shooting one because Izan won't be there to stop me…" Her face landed in her left hand, the other reaching out to the wall for support. Neither of them had told their Jedi friends about her very nearly missed incident. And now certainly wasn't the time she felt was right to bring it up.

Izan for once was quick on the uptake. "Things got real weird in the Citadel cantina. Probably the mix of pheromones and whatever other drugs they love to pump into the air." He wasn't sure if the lack of glaring from either Jedi was good or not. Dana actually appeared to be displaying a degree of sadness for once.

He caught Maarani's gaze through the narrow gap in the bulkhead doorways. "They don't allow any substances or weapons onto the station. There's no cantina to shoot up, believe me. Things will be different when we get there."

"I don't think she should even go, Izan." Jayden drummed her helmet to emphasise her point. "If the Hidden Hand have put word out on the Exchange already, she's the first face they'll look for."

Maarani slammed her fist against the bulkhead. An unsuccessful attempt to release the growing frustration she was experiencing. She made her way back to the others in a bregruding manner. "I can't face Zariba, not yet, so I'm coming with you two. Blue Squadron doesn't run from danger, and quite frankly I've got little else to go on."

This time, Dana did have the chance to lightly take hold of her arm. A sole reassurance on her part. "Do what you feel is best. We might be out here on our own, but we are together on this."

"That's so sappy I feel sick…"

Cecile wandered in to interrupt Dana's continued eyerolling. "I have completed the survey. It seems the Twi'leks only made surface repairs and upgrades. We still don't have weapons to speak of, and the communication relay is horribly outdated. It is a wonder you could call for help at all." Her eyes flickered when she noticed the glare Maarani was giving her.

"Seradan cheaped out after all I paid him… That bastard." There was a new sinking feeling for her to contend with. The realization that a good chunk of her savings had not only been effectively stolen, but was now funding some very nasty people. Let alone ones out to kill her.

As if she hadn't been through enough already.

"I'm sure we can steal it back, somehow. Now, we'd better make the final jump before their long range network sees us sitting out here. They're jumpy these days."

Maarani went back to the cockpit yet again and took her seat, joined by Izan shortly after. The jump coordinates had been set by them earlier, before he had actually mentioned who ran the station they were headed for.

Once Izan was settled, he readied the communication transmitter before looking to the Twi'lek. "We'll know if I'm still welcome there or not after about five seconds. I doubt they'd open fire, but you never know…"

The eyeroll in response was beyond exaggerated.

"I had doubts you would give this a chance if I told you earlier. Now, don't make the jump until I say so." Under his breath, he counted to three then began the first signal. After counting on to fifteen, he nodded to Maarani. "Go."

She put her reservations aside for the time being and did as instructed. The jump itself lasted only a few seconds, bringing them a decent distance out from the station itself. Crude and dark in design, it was hard to miss the impressive array of weaponry that lined reinforced sections of the main structure. Easily equipped with the firepower to enforce their own law on approaching ships.

" _Unregistered vessel Cresh-Seven-One-Zerek, identify._ "

Maarani looked to Izan, who tilted his head back at her as if she was meant to do the talking. That annoyed her further.

"Uh… This is the _Distant Star_ , I'm Maarani, and my friend with the secret code thingy is Izan. Please don't blow us up?"

In the silent exchange that followed, she scowled at Izan after he facepalmed at her response, to which he shrugged back at. She very nearly went to punch him when the station responded in turn.

" _Prepare passenger access port for shuttle transport. Remove all weapons and contraband from your person before boarding, we will be performing full tissue scans. The Intendant will be awaiting your arrival._ "

That made Maarani smile at long last. "Wow, you weren't kidding about knowing the boss."

Izan faintly chuckled, now that it was his turn for the mood to turn sour. "No, I certainly wasn't at all. This is no laughing matter for me."

A vessel launch from the station drew her attention away before she could prod at him further. The aforementioned transport shuttle. With a few careful movements, she turned the ship to provide clear access to the passenger port.

"Well, they didn't blow us up, so I'd say that's good. Now we can wait for the next bad thing to happen." While watching the ship approach, she had a quiet moment to think. Izan's stern gaze at the station itself was impossible to ignore.

She nearly punched herself for being so blind to the obvious. "Luxa's the Intendant here, and you've got mommy issues. I suppose anyone who's got anything to do with the Jedi has some sort of family crisis in their lives."

"Are you going to be this passive-aggressive for all of time? It was bad enough when you had to really rub in the fact that you want tits in your life, but this-"

"What? I'm not allowed to crack jokes about family issues because I'm an orphan?"

Izan grumbled to himself for a while after, waiting for the soft rumble of the shuttle docking with the _Distant Star_. When it finally did come, he all too eagerly left his seat. "I'm just saying that you should consider lowering your guard a little, at least around friendly company. Or when we're dealing with a serious matter like a potential death bounty on our heads."

"Does your mother count as friendly company?"

For the first time in well over a week, Izan felt frustrated with her. It was a bit more than he was willing to tolerate. "It's difficult between us. I am just asking for a bit of thought before action here. And maybe, just maybe, not being a smartass bitch for once."

"Ooh, Izan started swearing. Keep it up and maybe you'll talk like a normal person at last."

"What's wrong with how I talk?"

Jayden leaned into the cockpit at that moment. "What's the hold up? The shuttle isn't going to wait for long."

Izan slipped past without a further word, nodding to Dana and Cecile on his way over to the shuttle. The shuttle was just as he remembered it, a five seat iron coffin that barely allowed for those of average humanoid height. He didn't want to be near Jayden when she would inevitably have to enter the vessel.

He had an uncomfortable amount of squishing in from Maarani to distract him further. She had of course chosen to force herself into the seat right beside him, rather than one of the other two rows. Obviously to annoy him more.

"As I was saying, you kinda talked weird when we first met. I mean, who really says 'grab women's flesh' anyway? Seriously? It's not even an expression."

It did give him pause for thought. Looking back, he usually did settle for his own style of creative wording that gave him something to think about while sitting at the bar. And it had gone away not long after meeting her…

"Your need to be hip drove it away I suppose." He scratched at his beard in further thought. Being around her had definitely changed things beyond his speech, and the lifestyle he led. "At this point I'm not upset about leaving Telos behind. Glad to actually be doing something, since I wasn't really given any assignments by Czerka. But I am still bothered by just how overbearing you can be sometimes. I much prefer you when you're just being honest, and looking out for others."

"Like handing myself over to homicidal droids?" Maarani clenched her teeth. Somehow, she hadn't felt the urge to throw out her usual sarcasm yet again that time. People had still died, but they were at least beyond her help. Off her conscience.

Neither of them had noticed Jayden was also on board until the shuttle had launched free from the Distant Star. Unlike the rumble of it docking, the release was a violent shake that felt as if the vessel was ready to tear itself apart. Once in flight, it became surprisingly tranquil.

Nothing was said on the long flight over to the station for a bit over half the journey. It was still cramped, and quickly became stuffy with three occupants. Jayden had somehow managed to put her helmet on despite the confined space, using the air filter inside to lessen the effect for them all.

"I'll admit Maarani. It was brave to surrender to the HK droids in that situation. I faced the same decision, and paid for it dearly when I chose to fight."

Maarani twisted her head around to look back at Jayden, unknowingly squashing her lekku into Izan's face while she did so. Her attention was on the leg that the Mandalorian was gripping tightly. She had seen a very similar grip amongst former squadmates who had lost limbs to crashes and other accidents.

"Ironic. I was trying to break the silence."

A haunted look remained on Maarani's face when she twisted back around. All that time assuming that Jayden was just grumpy with her. For the first time, there was a hint of common ground.

"I've tried to kill myself so many times over the past few months. The real irony is that the droids weren't ever going to kill me. I guess they're programmed to enjoy mutilation instead."

"Next time we run into them, Maarani, I'll leave one or two for you to have at yourself. Just don't get in the way."

Izan scoffed at them both. The sight of the landing bay finally enclosing around them had restored his confidence. "What a great girl's night out. Destroying a bunch of droids. You Jedi have it made."

A soft rumble swept through the shuttle when latches brought the craft down onto the deck carefully. Not so much because of a lack of advanced machinery, as it was the ease of replacing guylines when disgruntled ships inevitably tried to damage or break free of the landing bay itself.

That was how it had been explained to Izan by his father anyway.

"Now we get to experience the utter pleasure of full body scans. If they ask you to remove your leg for inspection, Jayden, tell them no and move on. They can't enforce any kind of physical search when the scan comes up clean." He waited for both women to make their way out of the craft once it had landed before getting up as well.

On the deck itself, he grabbed Maarani's arm to pull her aside just a bit. "You did remember to remove that holdout blaster from your…"

Maarani shook free of his grasp with an accompanying eyeroll. "I haven't spent a week with a weapon between my boobs. That's not how they work you know." After looking back at Jayden, who looked back at them silently, she leaned in closer to Izan. "You do actually know surely…"

"For goodness sake Maarani, stop thinking about… well that for an hour at least. Yes I brought it up, but that doesn't mean-"

"Childish, both of you."

"He did actually start it…" Maarani's voice trailed off. Even with the helmet on, she could tell that she was getting an infamous Jedi glare. Conveniently without the rumbling sensation in her ears that Atris seemed to bring on in her own glares.

* * *

The Exchange Hall brought back unpleasant memories of a brief posting on Scipio for Maarani. Protecting the Republic's largest financing world was undoubtedly important, but it had put her in the presence of far too many unpleasant individuals that were solely fascinated by her gender, or her race. And an awfully large amount of droids.

Of course, the giant scrolling screens in that room were listing names of people, ships, corporations and even planets instead of financial garbage that she didn't ever bother to make sense of. The crowds below the screens were very much active in discussion, arranging captures, assassinations and sabotage by the second. They were the ones she noticed above all else anyway. Now more than ever, she felt very glad about leaving her Republic patches behind.

They were soon led through a cleaner set of corridors compared to the public areas seen so far that bore the typical signs of extreme traffic. There were a few other people wandering by, all paying no attention to the trio whatsoever. None of them had any complaints about that.

Outside a large doorway, the escorts left them altogether without a word.

Izan didn't need any further explanation of course, unlike the other two. "I'm not sure how my mother feels about Mandalorians at this point, Jayden. Fair warning that she might ask you to leave."

Jayden folded her arms at that, but gave a slow nod as well.

"Maarani… Don't say or do anything stupid, please."

"You beat a guy at cards and he called you a penis. You can only go up from there."

Yet again, Izan brought a hand to his face. Several curses were muttered under his breath when the doors finally opened to them.

Just as it had been all those years since he had last been there, the Exchange head office was occupied by eight individuals aside from the new arrivals. A local observer from the nearest Exchange holding to provide constant supply monitoring. Three of the Intendant's personal associates, charged with negotiation and communication on her behalf. A representative each from the three largest crime networks that operated under the banner of the Exchange.

And the Intendant herself.

"Bad time mother?"

For a moment, it appeared that Luxa had yet to acknowledge his presence, continuing to issue out instructions and other information at speed. A simple way of giving herself time to make final preparations for his arrival.

It bothered Izan a great deal more than Maarani ever could. After years, not even a cursory glance from her. "I'll take that as a yes then. Sorry for wasting your time yet again. Don't bother looking for me at the bar, I'm travelling the galaxy now."

"Izan, you're forgetting something…" Luxa looked up from her work at last, her attention now entirely on him. "It's been Intendent ever since you ran off to work for Czerka with your father. We stick to the decisions we make."

"And I thought I held a grud-"

Maarani nearly choked on the sudden elbow to her stomach from Izan. It was hardly undeserved, as she was going to make a stupid remark anyway, but she resented it nonetheless.

"I'm not calling you by a title, mother. Things have changed, and I didn't come here for an Intendent's help. I came for yours."

Luxa turned her head to the others standing around the table, who shrugged in response and returned to the work at hand. "Sitting at a bar and playing cards has changed I'm sure…" Her eyes narrowed down as recent events began to line up from memory. They had seemed somewhat random and unconnected beforehand, without reliable inside information to work with.

She strode around the central table and made her way back out immediately, gesturing for them to follow. Her quickened pace slowed once they were out of earshot of the central office.

"HK-50's on Citadel Station, with no word from you about it at all. And now you show up with a Twi'lek after the nearest colony world closes its borders without warning. What did you get yourself into Izan?"

He scratched through his hair while looking to the other two women behind him. Neither of them seemed ready to jump in for support. "Longish story? I met Maarani on Telos, stuff happened, and now she's out of pocket and we could really use a loan of about a hundred thousand credits. Think you can cover me for that?"

"Hundred thousand…" Luxa looked to Izan, then to Maarani, and finally to Jayden. Her jaw had dropped a little, but she wasn't exasperated. "Izan, if it's a bounty that you need paid off, please tell me. Don't just ask for that kind of money because you think I can't clear it with whomever you pissed off."

"Mother, it really isn't that-"

"I mean, if you just happened to fuck the daughter of a crime boss without realizing, that's difficult but not impossible to pay off."

"Mother I haven't fucked any crime boss daughters-"

"I did actually. Sorta."

Maarani could hear the slap of Izan's face impacting both his hands. Behind, she could also hear Jayden shaking her head in a similar reaction. What terrified her was the creepy smirk that appeared on Luxa's face. Moreso the fact that it only reminded her that she was far older than she looked.

"Izan, I don't know if I should be proud or disapproving of the company you keep. Gutsy girl you have here. So, in that case, who am I paying off to forget the matter."

Jayden placed a hand on both Maarani's and Izan's shoulders when she stepped forward, looking down at the Zeltron through her helmet. "The Exchange doesn't typically deal with who we're being chased by. A particular branch of the larger entity that spawned from your lot I believe."

That took the smirk right off Luxa's face. In its place was genuine fear. When the initial shock passed, she shoved Jayden's hand away to take hold of Izan's shoulders herself. "Izan, I gave you a complete list of every place to avoid. Why didn't you-"

"List is outdated, mother. _Twa'janii Tradeport_ has been Hidden Hand for a while now."

It drove her confidence away altogether for a few terrible seconds. However strained things had become, she certainly didn't want Izan dead. But, for the first time in her life, she was helpless to prevent that.

"I need to know what kind of trouble you're in exactly. I can block them from posting hits on the Exchange, but chances are they'll stay internal anyway. And if it's bad…"

All three of them went very quiet. Kidnapping definitely counted as bad. Kidnapping with the threat of murder if there was retaliation…

"We need the credits for refitting the ship, supplies along the way, and any other issues that might come up. I'll find a way to pay it all back I promise."

Luxa took a while to consider it. It would obviously have to be in physical form, not an easy task by any means considering the amount. She would also have to justify it to the Exchange accounts. Any sign of hidden transfer would cost her head.

"I can manage seventy thousand at most for the time being. You'll have to ask your father if you need more, though I doubt he will be nearly as generous. You know him better than I do."

"We'll make do, thank you." Maarani wanted to leave by that point. Just far enough to get away from Luxa. She was far too uncanny for her to ignore the discomfort felt from being in her presence.

It apparently didn't go unnoticed, as they were soon escorted back out of the secure area to the public section at last. It felt even more seedy and tense after the otherwise pristine hallways they had been shown through.

The lack of glances directly at them was a reassurance at least. So far, they had yet to become notable faces to look out for. How long that would last was entirely up in the air.

Some subtle prompting from Maarani led them to a quieter area of the central room where she felt more comfortable speaking to them. "Alright, I suggest getting something to eat here, since we won't be getting anything good on the _Distant Star_ until we set down for the upgrades. You sure you can reach your contacts securely from here Jayden?"

Jayden gave her usual minimal shrug. "Luxa already knows why we are here. And my contacts are well secured against tracking from their end. If she or her associates choose to listen in, they will learn what they know already."

"Keep your eyes open then, just for the sake of it." Maarani slipped her arm around Izan's once Jayden had gone off to the communication section. "I'm taking charge and keeping things organized, rather than making sarcastic remarks. This is what you wanted from me right?"

"I don't _want_ anything of you Maarani. Well, that's not really true, but you know what I mean…" Izan took her in the direction of the food court. Precious time to get through to her. "I said it from the start, you're a nice woman, but then sometimes it feels like you're almost hostile to everyone out of nowhere. It just makes me feel like we've done something to upset you, and you're having trouble coming out and saying it. Usually."

"That outburst right before Aiyek took the hit? That's what you mean right?"

"That just made me even more worried. There's repression going on."

"I thought Dana was the psyc-" Maarani clutched at her forehead with her left hand, while her right arm tugged on Izan a bit more. "I don't actually know if I can help the remarks. I've had to make them for four years to keep things from getting ugly with the squadmates."

"Yeah, I've been getting the impression you weren't too fond of them. Suppose that's the problem with being in the military, you don't get to pick friends for company."

He led her to a free table, this time in the middle of the spacious room where a lot of activity was going on around them. The fellow customers looked even more disreputable than those at the Exchange, and had eating habits to match.

Maarani was ready to sit down when the past caught up again. "I'll order. It's going to be a long while before I forget that first drink you bought for me."

* * *

Contests weren't a particularly appealing pastime to Dana. Work, study and meditation had been fulfilling enough in her life, and training in the refined art of lightsaber combat had been entertaining in their own right. There was never a desire to raise the stakes in such matches. After all, the risk that came with using actual weapons for training in her later years was all the excitement she needed.

On the other hand, staring at Zariba across the table was about as mundane as contests could get. Second only to a similar contest with Cecile. Whose ocular sensors flickered so rarely outside of conversation that her own eyes would dry out well before the droid lost.

It really was a mentally tiring line of thought. But it was also the easiest to remain focused on at that moment while she waited for Zariba to make her move. A rival to her own observation skills was not to be underestimated. Any distracting thought that trailed her mind off could potentially allow the Twi'lek to break through. Unlikely as it was, she couldn't take the chance.

Cecile did manage to interrupt with two tall drinks that she placed before them. "You must stay hydrated, Master Jedi, and traitorous whoreslut. Is there anything either of you would like to eat?"

"Cecile, we talked about not using vulgar language weeks ago. It's bad enough with Teegs."

"I am only repeating what she said while crying into her pillow for several hours." Cecile turned her head to Zariba. The Twi'lek wasn't even acknowledging her presence, or else was doing a very good job of pretending to be unfazed. "Given the lack of physical contact between the Mistress and the traitor, I merely assumed it was not meant in a pleasing way." Her head twisted back to Dana with a slight creak. "Requests for food, please?"

Dana broke eye contact with Zariba to look back at the droid. "You're not a servant here Cecile. You don't have to attend to our every whim and need. I personally like preparing food anyway."

A loud spitting sound came from Zariba's direction. At the same time, she felt something wet hit her cheek.

It had been nearly two decades since she had last let the emotional restraint go. The spit itself was not what bothered her, rather the act of defiance that had been shown.

"CC-13, initiate shutdown."

Her eyes glowed just a little once she was certain the droid had deactivated herself. In that same moment, she turned to Zariba. The spittle left on her cheek began to boil, and eventually evaporated off her skin altogether.

"You don't scare me, Jedi. I know you can pull all kinds of tricks to-" Zariba instinctively clutched at her throat, only to find that it was not the sensation of a hand gripping it like she expected. On the outside, it was very cold. Inside, it felt as if there were hot oil being poured down through her mouth.

The way Dana stood up from her seat was even more uncanny, simply rising up without moving her arms even a bit for support. "Let me make something very clear to you, Zariba."

Every light in the ship dimmed down when she stepped towards the struggling Twi'lek, who now had tears welling up in her eyes while she continued to cough uncontrollably.

"You didn't just break Tegama's heart. You betrayed our trust, when you had the perfect opportunity to come clean. This little tantrum of yours is going to be the last. Or a broken heart will be the least of the injuries you will suffer."

She placed her fingertips on Zariba's forehead and closed her eyes for just a moment. Upon opening them again, the lights had returned to normal, as had her own eyes. Zariba's head remained in place when she released her hand.

A gesture brought Cecile back online, giving Dana just enough time to return to her seat. "That said, I don't have experience with preparing Twi'lek cuisine. And the way Teegs described 'rycrit smoothies' made me feel equally disgusted. If you want to give preparing meals a go though Cecile, that should be by your own choice."

Cecile's eyes flickered in the usual manner while she processed everything said. "Something that does not contain meat, but still has a distinctive Twi'lek origin. I will do my best with what little we have."

Zariba remained silent, still gazing at the table surface like she had been since being let out of her effective cell. She had been told to behave after all…

* * *

"So I told her to stop giving me tentacle envy, she scowled and walked off. That's Nautolans for you I guess."

Izan was slowly shaking his head in bemusement. "I wouldn't know, not having met one to date. Though now I'm curious. I suppose people sound more intriguing when described by others."

Maarani took a few good gulps of her drink. The raw sweetness of it often made her choke at first, but it was also putting her in a good mood. "She was a bitch anyway. Some engineering corps division thingy whazam doopedy doo." She nearly broke down into hysterical giggling when the last surge of the drink seeped through into her bloodstream.

When it passed, and some of her senses returned, she slumped forward onto the table and looked up at him with wide eyes and a big grin. "Lia Sturo. Maybe we'll run into her sometime. You can get a good feel of all those slippery grey tentacles. Sliding all down around your shoulders, ooh."

"I think I'll pass on that." He took a rather more tempered sip from his own non-intoxicating drink. "Really though, you should give thought to an engaging conversation that opens the mind up to new possibilities and ideas."

"But I thought we were having a deep conversation here. So deeeeep. Deeper than the deepest deep deep parts of deep space. Where it's so deep it's black. And-"

"I know what fake drunk looks like, Teegs. I'm a master in that area if you recall."

A small trail of saliva ran from the corner of her mouth when she tried to lift her head up. "I'm not drunk, dummy. I'm just so…" She wiped her mouth clean, only to slump onto the table again. A dull pain was starting to form in her stomach. "Sick."

This time, Izan was quick to come to her aide. In a deft motion, he slid the food tray out from under her while also hauling her out of the seat into a standing posture. When her arm went to clutch at her stomach, he had second thoughts about being so close.

"I'll take you as far as the door. You'll have to handle it from there."

Maarani nodded her head with a pained groan. It was the last thing she had a conscious memory of doing before the haze set in. At some point she was released to stumble about on her own, found a suitable place for emptying her stomach, and spent the next several minutes washing her mouth out uncontrollably.

 _You're not safe here. Over half of us are waiting back at the colony now. Please, come with me._

The oh so familiar echoing voice nearly caused a panic until she remembered it was just in her head. Of course, it had also been a long while since Kiarna's voice had seeped through.

 _Things between Zimorr and I, are not what they used to be. I can't trust him anymore, and neither should you._

"That's ex-lovers for you, stupid bitch."

She splashed her face again from the sink to bring her awareness back. It was hard to not notice how artificial the water tasted, symptoms of heavy recycling.

 _There's a Twi'lek who somehow formed a mental link to me. I often pick up on what she says. Disgusting creature._

"You're a real barrel of joy yourself. Bet you always take cold showers, since you're so run-of-the-mill insane already."

 _Don't concern yourself more than you need to. She is a pest that I will deal with eventually. We have much bigger concerns on Katarr._

Maarani's balance was still sketchy at best, made evident to herself by her inability to make it back to the door of the washroom without stumbling.

Until then, she hadn't noticed the lack of others around her. Given the crowds around them, she had expected to at least notice the presence of a few others.

She had to clear her eyes upon stepping out into the corridor to be certain it wasn't a lingering effect of the high she had been on. It was in fact a completely different part of the station, very dingy in condition, and Izan was nowhere in the vicinity.

Her sudden stomach ache felt like much more than just an unhappy coincidence.

"Keep it together Maarani. Keep it…" She waited for more of her strength to return before making another attempt to walk. After a slight trip on a loose floor panel, she found it much easier to make her way through the desolation. "You had your drink from pouring to the table. Izan always had it in sight. Someone… something marked the glass then."

The first intersection left her clueless as how to proceed. There still wasn't anyone around. The structural design was identical to the rest of the station, and she doubted anyone could sneak her off the station anyway.

"Izan? On the odd chance you're out there, and not someone waiting to ambush me, mind calling out?"

Her hand slapped against her hip. For a moment she had actually forgotten about the strict ban on weapons. It made her feel far less secure to not have it with her. An opportunity to train with Jayden in hand-to-hand combat hadn't actually been settled yet.

"Anyone who is looking to ambush me, just come out and get it settled! I'm a pilot, we're not exactly known for having iron fists and steel jaws." She sighed upon passing every tall crate in the corridor ahead. No-one was leaping out in front of her, or attempting to clobber her from behind. Bruised lekku she could live with if it meant fending off a particularly stupid attacker.

The confused wandering eventually led her to a fairly sizeable room. Several dusty tables and chairs were scattered throughout. Even with the weak light available to her, she could see a definite similarity to the one she had just been in.

"This some sort of funky dream?"

"Just an old layer of the station they decided to abandon."

She tensed up when a tall man emerged from the shadows across the room. Already, she felt very threatened by his presence. The bald head gave her a good view of cybernetic implants in a few key locations around his skull. One of his hands was also cybernetic.

"Look, friend, if this was some elaborate way to get something going, you literally chose the worst person for it."

The stranger grinned, taking that moment to pick something clean from his teeth. "Excellent, their description of you was perfect, right down to your many compulsions. I do like to be certain that I have the right mark."

From within his cybernetic hand emerged a small drugstick, which he popped into the corner of his mouth to chew on.

"For every minute that you don't tell me where Zariba'Kulure is, I will put a hole through your body in places that will inflict the greatest amount of pain. When I have confirmation that she has been rescued, your suffering will be ended immediately."

Maarani took that first few seconds to look at her surroundings again. All of the tables were secured to the floor. The bar was too easy to climb over. If she tried to throw a chair, he would probably impale her leg to the floor with it.

Guile was her only ally. What little she had of it.

"Wouldn't it be great if I could suddenly use the Force to beat your face in with your own hand? Choking is just so overrated."

The assassin smirked at that, rolling the drugstick around to the other side of his mouth. "Your Jedi companion is well beyond helping you, little Twi'lek. Forty one seconds."

She went for the bluff anyway, lifting her hands up in a threatening gesture. "I bet I could do some real damage you know. Songsteel gauntlet, right? I've seen the stuff smash through bone and droid metal."

"Thirty three seconds. Where is Zariba?"

In a desperate moment, she gestured to a chair behind him and motioned for it to strike from behind. Not even the slightest budge. Guile was starting to feel overrated. "I can beat physics with some knowledge of hyperspace technology. I've killed people in and out of battle. My sister is a Sith Lord, I'm being hunted by another, and…"

At that moment, she noticed a loose chair leg about three metres to her left. Too far to run without him catching her, not without some kind of distraction. Being an annoying prick hadn't worked so far. A physical attack on the other hand, if done right, seemed to be the only option.

"She definitely isn't on board the ship right now. That'd be a real stupid place to keep our prisoner, y'know?"

The assassin spit the drugstick out to the side with a wide grin. "Nice try little Twi'lek." He reached his cybernetic arm up to the earpiece around his left ear. "Shadow, she's on the _Imperator-class_. Board and extract, kill the Jedi. I'm dealing with the Twi'lek as we-"

There was a split second where he noticed Maarani's leg rising up for a strike. Given the way she lifted it, it appeared that she was looking to stomp him in the stomach. That was where his organic arm went to grab her ankle for twisting off.

Maarani's aim was lower.

"I've got no use for them anyway!" She bolted right for the table leg in question. His groan of pain was brief, indicating that her attack hadn't actually done much at all. It had bought her barely enough time to yank the leg off and take a swing for his head.

His cybernetic arm went up before she could make contact. The resulting reverberations nearly rattled it out of her grasp. Both the pain of the impact and the vibration paled to the pain of having a metal gauntlet wrapped around her throat.

"Really? You really went for that? Pathetic waste of a woman."

This time, her attack found a devastating mark, driving the chair leg right up through the connection between his shoulder and the arm itself. She was freed from the gauntlet immediately while he cried out in pain again, this time far louder.

She grabbed the nearest chair and slammed it right over his head. One of the legs made direct contact with his skull, splitting the skin open. It wasn't nearly enough to keep him from grabbing the chair in turn and lifting it back up to bring down on her.

"Oh, shit."

Her arms went up defensively, taking the brunt of the blow. The force behind it knocked her to the ground, and left two sets of searing welts on her skin.

A firm kick to his leg caused him to stumble briefly, but it was more to push herself under the table itself. Time enough for her to roll over to the next table further away, and then to another. From there she stood up and grabbed another chair, slowly backing up when he approached again.

"I'd say you're not so tough without the arm, but then I'd be asking for it. So… eat it!" She swung the chair around to send several more flying in his direction, making another run for the nearest door.

Her hand swung for the security latch a little too ripped through her shoulder when she was grabbed and thrown back over a table, sending more chairs crashing to the floor behind her.

"Last time I consider no weapons a fun challenge. This has become tedious!"

She screamed as his metal arm came down right on the middle of her right shin. The crack was unmistakable. Red was overwhelming her vision while the true pain set in.

Through the dull ringing in her ears, she could hear the door open behind her attacker.

"Get off her!"

Izan's sweeping blow with a heavy pipe connected directly with the assassin's skull. A deep thud came, followed by the clank of it hitting the floor when it wrenched out of his hands. He was in shock for the few seconds it took for his would-be target to turn around "What the hell kind of armor is that?"

He was thrown to the wall by a hard punch that left a wound on the back of his head. His own attack had apparently done something, as the next swing from the assassin missed when he clumsily stumbled out of the way.

Maarani had rolled off the table to put all her weight on the good leg so that she wasn't quite so vulnerable. The broken one shot pain back up through her body when she leaned down to retrieve the pipe Izan had dropped.

"You want me! Come get me you bastard!" She leaned her hip against the table to put all her strength behind the next swing, which crushed his nose completely and left swollen cuts around his cheekbones. It still wasn't enough to stop him.

Again, Izan was quick to her rescue. This time he charged in with a poorly thought out tackle that only served to stumble them both for a bit before he was thrown aside yet again.

"Idiot boy. I was assured you wouldn't be stupid enough to get in the way." He tore off the left arm with a mighty yell and held it at the wrist to use as a terrifying club.

Yet another person entered the scene, and swiftly ended the fight with a single punch. The assassin's head flew across the room and left a dent in the opposing wall where it had impacted. The rest of his bloodied body fell to the floor.

Jayden lifted Izan up from the growing pool of blood while stepping over to lift Maarani up. "I had trouble following Izan down here to help. How bad is it?"

Maarani cried out in pain again when her leg was bent out more from being picked up. Tears were streaming down her face and along her lekku.

"Don't tell me later that's a stupid question. All I felt was the pain in the stump that was my thigh." She stepped back over the corpse into the empty corridor. The dismal light made it hard to work out exactly where she was headed. "Izan, we need an alternate way off the station. He is bound to have reinforcements waiting. Any ideas?"

"Yeah, just follow me while I bump into every wall and accidentally blow us out into space. This way." Through bleary eyes, and with a lot of dull pain all over his body, he led on through the increasingly dark corridors, relying solely on what little he remembered of the place.


	31. Maddening Mystery on Mirial

Dana was out of the pilot's seat at the instant the Distant Star touched down. Zariba had been sent back to her room as soon as the call had come through, and Cecile was waiting by the loading ramp controls to bring them on board. Her own destination was the medical bay for a local sedative.

"Dana! We need that injector in fifteen seconds!"

"I know, I know!" A lot of the junk that came with the ship had apparently been stuffed into the many otherwise empty lockers in the room, all of which fell out in a big mess when she opened them. None had thought to actually label where their medical supplies were being kept.

When she did actually find the sedative, another injector caught her attention. A cocktail of drugs that she quickly realized as anti-depressants. Maarani hadn't mentioned anything about Zariba having one during their escape, or about carrying one herself. The concern was pushed aside when another yell came from the cockpit.

By then, Maarani had been set down in the pilot's chair where Izan was frantically tying a splint around her leg. She was biting into Jayden's gauntlet, her continued screams muffled by the metal and synthfibre.

"Hold on." Dana jabbed the injector into a vein right below her knee and forced in the full dose.

It took a full minute for Maarani to actually regain any form of self control. The pain was far from gone, but at the very least she could open her eyes properly. She tried to yell all manner of obscenities before remembering Jayden's hand was still in her mouth, which she shoved out promptly.

"Dana, you need to learn how to fly beyond 'go forward' because I am not going through this again!" There was still an awful lot of pain when she brought the ship back out of the abandoned landing bay. Above were several blaster batteries trained on their course away from the station.

The holographic projector came to life before she could ask how Dana got down there in the first place without being shot to pieces. To her utter disgust, Luxa was the one to appear.

" _So, you killed the assassin then. I really underestimated you_ -"

"Bitch! Backstabbing cunt! Give me one chance and I'll-"

" _Turn around now, Twi'lek. I want my son back on the station immediately._ "

Izan shoved past Jayden to answer for himself. "Save it mother. I appreciate the credits, but I told you that I'm taking my chances. Hidden Hand have nothing on the HK-50's or the Sith."

" _Izan, don't be a fool! Whatever you may think, I do still care about you! I paid dearly to get your name cleared from their hit list!_ "

His lip went pale from how hard he bit down on it. The next few words were crucial. And they would possibly break his own mother's heart. He looked to Maarani, who glanced back in confusion. He didn't even fully understand his own motivations anymore.

"I've got three Jedi with me, mother. And unlike you, I'm not going to betray them for a pathetic bounty. Also the food there sucks."

" _You what-_ "

His hand was shaking for a little while after cutting her off. There was disinterest, and then there was active subversion. "I didn't even think of my own mother as a hero, and she still managed to disappoint me."

The unpleasant silence that followed punctuated his mood perfectly. He had a satchel filled with physical credits, and a heart that felt colder than what even Dana could manage.

Of course, staring at the hyperspace window grew tedious after just two minutes of the painfully dazzling sight. "I think we're a bit beyond family counselling, Dana, but I'm willing to give it a go."

"Not happening Izan."

Maarani could tell when all three of them looked at her. Of course, they weren't entirely accustomed to her taking-charge attitude. "We go to Citadel Station, get my leg fixed, and your stuff back. Then we find an isolated and uninhabited world to set down on for training. You and I need to learn self defence, and both you and Dana can use some flight lessons. Jayden, you can take our little bitch out for a walk when we're done with the Mandalorian boot camp."

"Zariba isn't a pet, and I don't think you should be making remarks like that given the circumstances."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you all wanted me to stop swearing and making stupid remarks. Boy was I wrong!"

Jayden went to grab Maarani's chair when she was stopped yet again by Dana. This time, she wasn't nearly as willing to let the matter slide. "That's what they want. I want you to stop making light of the fact that we are holding an innocent hostage that you threatened to murder! Are you sure it's purely defense that you want me to teach you?"

"You're out of line Jayden."

"Let the giant have her say Dana. I've taken shit from everyone else so far. Let her punch my lights out and work out how to return to normal space before we smash into Telos."

The argument ended with Izan leaving his seat and walking out of the cockpit, hand once again held against his face. "I just effectively flipped my mother off for you all. At least Cecile knows how to treat her friends properly." The last sound from him was heavy footsteps, and then eventually the door to his room being opened and closed.

Again, there was a long silence before Maarani spoke up at last. Her soured mood hadn't faded in the least. "Two Jedi. I barely count as one."

* * *

Even on Coruscant, which he had always noted for its comfortably warm environment, every Mirialan that Utan had met was clad in fully covered clothing of some sort, predominantly in darker colours too. Whenever he stopped to ask why, the answer had always been maintaining a chaste life, or their assertion that Coruscant was too cold for their liking.

Mirial was definitely much colder, to a point where he had to improvise a way to protect his large ears from the cold. And yet, Venu was wearing an identical outfit to what she commonly wore on Coruscant. Not even gloves had made an appearance outside of their vessel, and he had definitely seen her with a pair beforehand.

Even more perplexing was how unexpectedly vibrant the city itself was. So many of the Mirialans had pleasant attire, smiling faces and a joyful manner to their every action. The few towering spires were glistening marvels to look at, and the rest were each clearly stylized in design. Care and deep thought had been invested in them by their architects. And yet as far as the galaxy knew, they were quiet monks with ritualistic tattoos.

Venu herself wasn't in any hurry to drop that charade. Perhaps it was for his own benefit in her eyes. It was just odd to see such a stoic figure amongst her own people who seemed completely different in comparison.

Their destination was some distance away from the starport itself, located high on one of the towering slopes that loomed beyond the spires. On the other side of the square lay the terminal that they would be using to get there.

It was also where the majority of non-Mirialans seemed to be gathered. Majority being two dozen at most. Of that, barely a few weren't straight up humans.

"Are you seeing something of importance, Master Utan?"

He frowned a little at her assertive question. There didn't appear to be anything of importance to see. And there certainly wasn't anything that indicated as such. Nothing to prompt such a question out of the blue.

And yet, he was starting to develop an uneasy feeling. Observers from afar. "It is what I do not see that concerns me. We will speak of it in a more secure location, preferably a private one." He made his way on to the crowd, now more aware of those around and behind them.

Before entering the terminal itself, Venu noted at least two of their apparent observers across the open square. His caution no longer seemed like an act of paranoia.

The feeling remained after they boarded the hovertrain, and when it departed for the upper section of the city, and even well after they disembarked in the administration district.

It was for the most part a plateau halfway up the mountain ridge, with many of the more secure locations dug into the rock itself for further protection against attack. The archives were one of the deepest locations. Whomever was observing them would be narrowed down by the environment itself soon enough.

Utan found the whole place to be distasteful. While the areas of the Courscant Temple that had been carved into the mountain were brightly lit and decorated with nature, all that Mirial provided was some faint electrical lamps and a polished surface for every pillar. There weren't even any carvings that depicted events, or the simplest of patterns. Dull again came to mind.

It really didn't fit with what he had just seen earlier. And with a lack of anything else to occupy their time…

"Are there no stonecraft artisans on Mirial?"

The question made Venu roll her eyes, as it was hardly a subject she had ever given consideration. "Ritualistic practises don't extend to every part of our lives. I personally see no reason to create murals in a darkly lit corridor that very few people will bother to wander down. Fewer still would stop to examine them at all."

They arrived at the archival vault shortly after. Two lightly armoured droids were standing to either side of the doorway. A solitary Mirialan was at the front desk. She had apparently fallen asleep while watching a holographic performance of sorts.

Venu gestured towards the computer access panel on the desk itself to give them both access inside, not wanting to wake the poor woman. A quick nod to Utan followed, after which both Jedi made their way on through the now opened doorway.

The droids watched them move past, looked to the sleeping attendant, then returned to their standard positions.

"Your turn to guess. Jedi, Sith, Other?"

"I told you, I hate this game of yours. I always say Jedi, then they come back and slice us in half, and we spend weeks getting rebuilt. Not again."

"You are no fun. I will ask them to install a humour module next maintenance cycle."

"Do that and I will shoot your memory banks out personally."

"I would love to see you try."

* * *

Utan's previous disappointment with Mirial was muted by the archival section itself. While not anything truly awestriking in design, or carrying the historical weight of the Jedi Archives, it did at least look to be extensive, well kept and cared for. Columns upon columns drifted around a central workstation. Most of them were configured for typical Mirialan storage devices, while the others each catered to a specific alternative, including one that appeared to be organic in nature.

The only other occupant of the vast room took one look up from her work at the two before immediately striding over with a scowl. "Who authorised you two to come in here? This isn't a public library!"

As she was about to interject, Venu noted the arrangement of the archivist's tattoos. Her about-to-be dismissive tone changed to surprise entirely. "Your receptionist was asleep, and our business here is of importance…" Now that she was close enough, the familiarity was unmistakable. "Molbe? How did you… How… When?"

Molbe looked at Venu with every bit of confusion and annoyance she could bear. "You space sick or something? Quite frankly I don't care if you're Jedi, the fact that you strolled in here without even asking is a severe sign of disrespect!" She glared down at Utan, then back at Venu while she continued to look at her strangely.

"Actually that makes it worse! I don't like it when your lot just go wherever you want without the slightest concern for following basic protocol! And for goodness sake go see a doctor if you're suffering from space sickness!"

"Molbe…" Venu clutched at her forehead while taking a step back. The tattoos and voice were right, but her attitude was entirely wrong. She barely even noticed Utan slipping past to access one of the nearby consoles, so caught up in the confusion she was experiencing.

The faint rumble of a bad presence behind her was just enough to end the daze. She had just enough time to turn and see the two people that had been following them. Bounty hunters judging by the concealed weapons they carried.

It was the Rattataki woman who drew her weapon first, a tiny bolt launcher that was presumably laced with toxins. "Utan and Venu? Unusual names for Mirialans, and we assumed one of you was a man." She smirked as Molbe glared at Venu. "I'm not judging. But business is business, and we were told friends of yours did some real nasty things."

"I told them those droid guards are useless. Five times now they've been useless…" Molbe shoved Venu aside to face the hunter directly. "I'm not Utan, I don't know who these people are, and I despise bounty hunters barging in here even more than when-"

"Molbe stop!"

"And who are you anyway? How the hell do you even know my name?"

The lead bounty hunter rolled her eyes. Her hand gripped down to ready the bolt itself. "Enough bickering. We were told to look for green skins, and that's what we found. If you want out of here without being paralyzed for life, you'll do as we say."

Venu tightened her lips. The two hunters clearly didn't know they were dealing with Jedi, but Molbe's sudden unpredictability made her too much of a risk to taking action. And she had lost track of Utan in the stand-off.

"Fine. What is it you want exactly? Be specific, I'm certain whomever is paying you wants accuracy."

The Rattataki tilted her head with a sly smile, but kept her wrist in firing position. "Shame we don't have such co-operative marks like you more often." She nodded to her Duros companion, who lifted up a holo-recorder to capture everything said.

"We want all information relating to a Twi'lek who goes by 'Maarani'. The contractor pointed us here, and to watch for two green skins. Exactly what we found here."

It nearly prompted Venu to roll her eyes at how predictable in retrospect their task seemed to be. "I barely know her, so you've got bad intelligence after all. My friend just behind you on the other hand…"

In the moment that both bounty hunters turned, Utan was ready with his lightsaber. Rather than cutting them down however, he activated a secondary function on the hilt itself that produced a blinding flash of light. A follow-up gesture brought both tumbling to the floor in an unconscious state. He tapped each with his foot to be certain they were out cold.

"I haven't had a great deal of time to test the effectiveness of that. But it did work better than I had been counting on."

"You very nearly blinded me, stupid ugly freak! I want both of you out right-"

A sharp blow to the head from Venu sent Molbe to the floor out cold as well. Her hand was immediately sore for it. It took a few good shakes to get the throbbing sensation to stop, which left Utan's questioning look for her to deal with. "She was always far too strong for mind tricks. I still need to find out what's going on in her head."

"You know her very well then. A friend?"

"In a sense." She knelt down to lift the unconscious Mirialan up in her arms and began carrying her back down the walkway. "Locate whatever we're looking for, but don't access or take it just yet. It's standard protocol to do a full physical and data search after a break-in."

She tilted her head around when the irony dawned on her. "Violent break-ins anyway. I'll deal with the authorities."

The whole incident had gone by quickly for Utan, and so he wasted little time in making his search. The actual volume of information was just as extensive as it appeared. His search was quickly narrowed down to locations that had Republic encryption keys specifically on them, but even then the files in question were vast. Nothing he could hope to pick through for later study under such circumstances.

He left the control station to physically drag the two bounty hunters down the walkway to where Venu was waiting with Molbe. "When are they due to arrive?"

"Maybe a minute at most."

Utan nodded again. It was long enough for him to disarm the two hunters entirely. A communicator pad that he found on the Rattataki he slipped into his own pocket for later study. "I will ask the Council for any information they can glean about who sent these two. What about you, Master Kasua?"

Venu was slow to look back at him. Her attention was still somewhat settled on Molbe. Confused, confused beyond anything she had experienced before. "I need to get in contact with 'old associates'. I need to find out why a friend of mine hasn't been dead for months like I was told." Her lip began to pale from how firmly she was biting on it. The realization was hard to bear.

"They made it clear she had been killed in the riots. And…" Her next breath was wracked by a heavy shudder. "If I'm not mistaken, it's those same riots the Republic stepped in to quell… With military force." Her eyes glazed for a moment in her continued stare down to Utan. "This is directly related to Tegama'Arani, isn't it?"

"That is what we must find out. Together."

* * *

"Good, I'll inform him immediately."

Aruga picked up the data pad on his way over to the holoterminal. At that moment, it was relaying a text readout of everything the planted communicator was picking up. Every word spoken by the two Jedi, the authorities they were discussing with, and others that they passed.

He brushed his hand over the terminal controls and began speaking immediately. "Seradan, the plan has been successful so far. The hunters did their job, we now have a direct feed on Utan and Venu. We just need your approval to activate the deep cover agents."

When Seradan flickered into view, he was turned away from Aruga. His chin had been practically glued to his hand. Deep in thought, considering every possible way that could be utilized or exploited to rescue his daughter.

" _Not yet. If the Jedi are smart, they will wait a while before trying to access the information, we can't show our true hand too soon._ " He hummed in further thought. " _That informant has proven his value in any case. Have a deep agent on Coruscant observe the Republic Intelligence building, and identify him. Recruiting someone right under the nose of the military would be incredibly useful._ "

"Actually, he's not a member of the service itself…"

That made Seradan turn around very slowly. He was confused for the most part, but also intrigued. " _For someone to spy on the spies… They would have to be very good, experienced. Is there any clue as to who we are dealing with?_ "

Aruga brought up a secondary hologram in the transmission, a rough capture of what their agents had recovered. "He looks unremarkable at first glance, but at least one agent reported seeing him remove one of his own eyes, and watching it crawl into the building. And he knows how to avoid being followed."

From across the room, one of the technicians called out to Aruga. He left the terminal to converse with him quietly, then returned to the terminal. "We've narrowed the details down to a man named Zimorr. He stopped working for the Exchange about three months ago, and no other personal records have ever been recovered. He's listed as a 'kill on sight' by the Republic Intelligence…" He glanced down at the data pad again, which had temporarily switched over to feeding him further information about Zimorr. "Miraluka, considered hostile and extremely dangerous by the Luka Sene. Not an ideal recruit after all."

" _A shame then. No matter, forward the appropriate payment, along with the reassurance that further information will be duly rewarded. Just ensure that he does not go after Tegama'Arani directly. I don't want someone labelled as 'extremely dangerous' near my daughter. That will be all._ "

Aruga closed the transmission from his end quickly, then looked over to the technician he had just conversed with. "Proceed with payment, inform agents to avoid direct contact with him. Agents on Mirial are to remain at standby observation. And make sure those two bounty hunters are deported before the Jedi have a chance to interrogate them."


	32. Green to the Bone

The situation was uncomfortably familiar for Maarani. It had been weeks since she had last been in a hospital bed, but that time at least had just left her with a headache and an awkward conversation. She didn't have the option to crawl onto the floor and hide this time.

It hadn't dampened her bothered mood either. There were still things to be dealt with while she waited to be transferred over to the surgical ward.

"Alright, Dana, go talk to whomever you have to about the incident with the droids and get it cleared up. Izan, go get your stuff packed. Jayden, go with him to make it go faster and in case there's anyone else he's pissed off. Cecile can stay here with me."

Dana was quick to leave with only a shrug in acknowledgement. Izan wasn't far behind, but did make a point of waiting around long enough to see if there was anything else to be said. A glare from Maarani, and Jayden's cold shove past answered that for him.

At the doorway, he couldn't resist getting one last jab in. "Don't shoot any dancers while I'm gone, okay?"

Maarani made an obscene gesture in response.

"I suppose that's a step up from telling me you're not interested for the upteenth…" He waved it off with a sigh. Jayden had gone on ahead to wait outside the medical ward, where he found her tinkering with something inside her helmet. There wasn't any hurry to finish when he did actually arrive on her part, and he wasn't about to tell a Mandalorian of any size to hurry up.

When she did finish, she returned the helmet to its usual position of being held against her left side. "I've never visited this place, so I'm trusting that you won't leading us into more trouble with the law enforcement. It's not easy to determine how much goodwill lingers after thirty years."

Izan gestured towards the section lift, which was across the plaza from them. "Yes yes, I don't need another history lesson on this place. I lived here because it paid well for sitting in a cantina and keeping tabs on people. And people talk in cantinas. A lot. About everything." He looked up to Jayden directly. "I suppose I'm less bothered by all the Surik the Heroic Exile stories now. Luxa really was a bitch."

It caused the Mandalorian to pause in her step and turn to him, her hand clasping on his shoulder. "She was protecting you, like any mother should. Maarani overreacted. End of story." Her hand fell away from his shoulder when she turned back to their destination and continued on.

The point couldn't be argued further. What had been intended as a wisecrack just minutes earlier had gone back to the dark truth. There was a precedent he couldn't ignore.

It was only in the privacy of the lift itself that he spoke up again. "I don't understand what goes on with you Jedi. I mean, obviously you're an exception to the norm, but Dana isn't bothered by all this. And I've seen some of the shady shit that Czerka has done, like what happened on Kashyyyk, I'm not judging. But why are you so strung up every time Maarani opens her mouth?"

Normally, Jayden would have taken offence to what was being so blatantly implied. That was entirely based in what the Mandalorian culture taught her, a need to protect her honour against any subversion. It should have been exactly why she was so disgruntled with Maarani, in her behaviour and her actions. And yet, it was far from that.

"She's too callous with her behaviour. I didn't expect that when I left my husband behind to help in training her." The doors opened before she could continue any further. And it was a welcome excuse. It made closing the conversation on that damning note so much easier. It wasn't nearly as easy to close the door on whatever was going on inside the Twi'lek's deranged mind.

The lower plaza was quite busy, and at times difficult for the two to navigate through. Even the corridors that branched off to each apartment were more populated than normal, which made the task of actually locating his room from a distance harder.

Somewhere in the middle of the plaza, he stopped to scratch his beard. "I'm sure I was covered for two weeks rent…" He went on a bit further. The level was right, but he had somehow forgotten the usual details that helped to discern his room from the other identical residential modules. And he had also forgotten to buy a new locator pad after they had arrived.

"What was the room number?"

"K2… I think?"

"You think?"

"It's been a week and a half, and in that time I've been shot at by HK droids and… well just HK droids." He kept his mouth shut about Aiyek to avoid any further issue with Jayden. It took a while longer to reach the K module, and longer still to find K2 as it was not the second door on their left as expected.

To his immense relief, his access card and code still worked, and the first view of the interior showed no sign that the station crew had been in to pack everything up.

"Good, they haven't found the stash of illegal weapons and drugs."

Jayden glared at him.

"Didn't I just say I've kept myself clean? Or is a lack of humour part of becoming a Jedi?" Again he had to wave off the issue to refocus on the task at hand. Everything was where it had been left when he ran from the block to rescue Maarani. The jacket with the Czerka insignia he had worn in the cantina was still haphazardly spread over his unkempt bed, as was his second blaster pistol.

He shoved the weapon down the side of his pants in a manner that made Jayden shake her head. "What now? I was in a hurry, so I forgot to hide the spare weapon okay? I don't keep all my blasters on me."

"Shoving it down your pants is the fastest way to burn a hole through your thigh. Or other parts." She yanked the pistol from his pants and tossed it back onto the bed. "Leave it there until we've packed everything else. Didn't Czerka teach you basic gun handling?"

Izan shrugged the question off at first while he began grabbing what clothes he had and tossed them in the general direction of his carry bag. "I was originally going to be trained as a trade negotiator, but when that fell apart I got to be an observer. Observers don't get full training. So I guess not shoving weapons down my pants isn't actually basic gun handling after all."

"You're right. It's actually common sense."

"Now you're cracking Maarani's style of jokes. That wasn't what I meant by getting a sense of humour!"

"It wasn't a joke. You're just taking on more of her callous nature. Like I said."

He grumbled to himself while tossing some empty food containers across the bed into another pile. "I'm not callous! You're a literal giant with a hardass for playing by the book. It's not like I carry my blasters in my pants anyway, I do have holsters for both!"

Jayden glanced around briefly, then knelt down to pick up what at first looked like the other missing blaster holster. Holding it closer to the light proved otherwise. Izan's shocked expression punctuated the answer for her.

"I'm going to assume these aren't yours…"

"Just burn it when we leave. You've got a flamethrower wrist thingy right?"

She tossed it aside with a light flick of her wrist and wiped the fingers of her gauntlet on the bedsheet. "Remind me not to shake anyone's left hand."

Now that she was further into the room itself, she had a better view of the conditions he lived in. The _Distant Star_ was cluttered with junk that Maarani refused to throw out certainly, but at least had a semblance of decency. Izan's room had an awful mixture of alcoholic stenches to it, and the lack of a window made the already small space feel even more cramped.

On the solitary table in the room, that bore a handful of burn marks and food stains, she noticed a small holoprojector. She carefully picked it up, this time with her right hand, and turned back to Izan. "Anyone on here? Mother, father, previous love interest?"

He looked up from the other side of the bed only to give a bemused shrug. "I suppose Garizan is on there somewhere. That's where Izan came from if it's not obvious. Maybe there's others, who knows."

Jayden took a cautious look over the bed before turning and sitting on the very edge. The holoprojector was easy enough to activate, but actually trying to bring up any of the stored images was a challenge in itself. Even the portable communicators she had to rely on weren't nearly as confounded.

After further frustrated attempts to cycle through, she finally brought up one of the stored files. It was of a young woman, a bit plain in appearance, but still somehow bearing a vague resemblance to Izan. "Do you have a half-sister or something?"

"That'd be Chaser, a third cousin through Garizan. She's a mechanic in the Republic military I think. We don't really speak. Ever."

She noted the fact that he was quick to remember her before moving onto the next file, given how disinterested he appeared to be. That one was of an older man who looked much more like Izan. What she took from it was a notable sadness in his eyes before moving onto the next.

The one presented was of a Mirialan woman with a stern look on her face. She again turned to him. "Who's this? For some reason she looks familiar."

Izan was done with cleaning up the other side of the bed, his last act being to lift a heavy metal case up and place it down in view for him to open up. "Jana Lorso. She's been trying to get a foothold here ever since she got booted off. My instructor and offworld contact, among other things. She's a bit like Dana in that business get-up, only green and slightly less cold."

Jayden shrugged that jab off while moving onto the fourth. This time it was a young Zabrak man with a small, but charming smile. "Another business associate?"

"We went out a few times, but there wasn't enough of a connection. Something to be said for trying new things though."

The next image she expected to see was another woman given the apparent pattern he had left. To her surprise it was another man, who bore some notable scars on his wizened face. It was much harder for her to determine the species. "And what about this one?"

Izan took a long look at the projection with puzzlement. "I don't have a clue. Might be leftover from the previous owner for all I know." By then he had opened the case, confirmed that the contents were intact, and locked it back down. "I'm just about done here. If you can carry this, I'll grab the rest of my stuff and let the station know I'm leaving for good."

Jayden placed the projector down to pick up the case instead. It was heavy indeed, which only concerned her further. "I expect you'll be telling us what it contains when we're in hyperspace. This feels suspiciously like a lot of cases I've handled over the past seven years."

It was waved off in a nonchalant manner when Izan went to retrieve his carry bag and fill it with the gathered belongings.

"Izan, I'm trying to establish trust here. I know Maarani doesn't like my attitude, and Dana seems ready to disagree with me already. The droid will do whatever she's told by anyone anyway, which leaves you as a confidant."

"What, we're becoming a pair of spies now? Or, you're recruiting me as one I guess. You seemed to know what was going on back on _Twa'janii_ pretty quickly." After slinging the full pack over his shoulder, and lightly kicking the rubbish out of the way, he waited in the doorway to finish his point. "Maarani is just a tricky sort to figure out. I think we get along well because I don't have any rules to follow but my own. And my rules say that I should do what the situation demands."

He looked around the room again, smelling the alcohol for one last time. "Sometimes it demands drinking, and sometimes…" His gaze had returned to Jayden, who was tapping her foot impatiently. "Oh forget it. Just ease up and she'll come around. In the meantime, we can talk over card games. So long as you don't call me a dick we'll be fine."

"What?"

"Tal'kan, as the Twi'leks say." He grumbled again while turning to leave the room. "Or shout across the room. Let's go."

* * *

 _Answer the question! Who planted the bomb?_

 _I don't know! I don't know! I don't-_

"Know!"

Molbe's forehead and nose was throbbing in dull pain when she was startled awake by the echoing voices. Even before the haze had cleared, she recognized the two figures of the Jedi she had yelled at before. The little man was watching the door, while the Mirialan was already returning to her side.

"Molbe, do you still not remember me?"

Venu gestured to the chair she had been sitting at once Molbe sat up. It slid across the floor with a few soft rattles until it was ready for her to sit in. "The bounty hunters that attacked us were deported an hour ago. Utan and I will stay only as long as you want us to."

"I want you both to leave, now."

For the briefest of moments, Venu was ready to strike her again. Under these circumstances however, it would not be justified in any way.

"Let me rephrase then. When I'm convinced it's not a brainwashed shallow reflection of my friend talking, I will respect your wishes."

"Get out."

At that moment, Venu's left hand lashed out, the effect being to hurl Molbe against the wall with a hard thud in a manner that drew Utan's attention. By every passing moment, she was holding less and less back.

"I don't want to force my way into your mind. But if you won't try to break through whatever it is you've been hit with-"

"Venu stop!"

"No."

Her right hand moved up to cover Molbe's entire face, spreading over it without actually making physical contact. The terror in her eyes was all too obvious, as was her struggle to breathe. Venu ignored all of that.

"Venu, I did not bring you here to demonstrate the methods of a Sith!"

The fingertips began to close in one by one. Her own ears were rumbling as the blood rushed through her head at a greater pace. The same would be happening to Molbe on a louder level. Precision was needed to open the path into her mind, or a vessel could potentially burst.

"Shut up Utan. I would not be surprised if the Sith put this block in place to begin with."

Her index made contact with Molbe's skin, below the right eye. An all-too familiar scream of hers echoed back in response.

The thumb was next on her right cheek, bringing with it a plethora of mumbled pleading and begging for respite.

When her middle finger made contact directly between her eyebrows, Molbe's pupils dilated, and a trail of blood began to run from her nose. It brought up the distant voice of what could only be an interrogator.

There were dark green marks underneath the three contact points, nothing that wouldn't fade in a day. Her own head was starting to throb from the strain she had put herself under to remain controlled. And while Molbe looked worse, she was at least free of the block now.

Venu eventually stepped back down off the bed and pulled Utan aside. "That block was chemical, a Force based one wouldn't break as easily. It's miraculous for the both of us." She didn't need to look at him to know he was glaring at her with every bit of disapproval. For the time being, it was of no concern to her. "I did what I had to, Utan. She's a close friend, I wasn't going to let her continue living under a lie."

"She might not have been living at all if things had progressed further."

"Spare it. If you wanted Jedi methods, you should have brought a Mirialan who never had to go through what I did."

Molbe's pain had subsided enough by then for her to notice the pair again. This time, she recognized Venu immediately. "Ven… You came back."

Venu was back at her side almost immediately, her hand reaching to her shoulder to finally show the support she wanted to give. "I had no idea what was going on. This damned war has gone on far too long already."

"No kidding…" Her attempt to get up was stopped by Venu, who instead went to retrieve water. She took the offered glass graciously, taking a few trembling sips while she waited for the pain to ease further. "Thank you."

In the meantime, Utan had made his way over to a nearby office desk that contained a computer terminal for him to use. "When you are ready, I'd ask for your access code."

"Bit risky to access the archives so soon surely." Venu was too preoccupied with tending to Molbe to notice his small smirk that resulted from her question.

"While I trained Karada-Lazu and some of his friends, they taught me a few things about slicing. And it is not the archives that I am looking into from here." He glanced at Molbe again, the brief smile fading in light of what had happened. "Let's not repeat what happened just now. If there are other victims, we can help them with proper medical treatment."

By then, Molbe had recovered enough for her to feel confident in sitting up properly on the edge of the bed. Her hand was still trying to rub the throbbing pain away, but it was no longer a full distraction.

"All I remember is two different rooms. A furnished cell, and…" A sharp ringing sound bounced between her ears, causing her to wince. "The other room, where they beat answers out of me. They kept me blindfolded the whole time. Most of the time they shouted in Basic, and spoke in some other language I didn't understand."

She licked at her dried lips. The pause was taken to reflect on the past months, walking around in a daze as an entirely different person. Someone had gone to great lengths to put her in that new life.

"I uh, can only recall a few words." Her head slowly turned to Venu, finding the solace she desperately needed. "Udeen twa, szu'tak…"

Venu's jaw had already started to tremble. The few words were enough for her to recognize the language. "Twi'lek. They spoke Twi'lek to each other." In a pained moment, she looked to Utan. "That spacestation Dana and Maarani went to, the one Torbut mentioned in his last message to us? Some sort of Twi'lek cult?"

Utan nodded with a solemn grunt. He had also noted the words spoken, and come to a similar realization. "Those bounty hunters wanted information about Maarani, days after that incident. The arrival on the station might not have been her first encounter with them, if this cult was involved in the riots."

He left the chair to approach Molbe, reaching up a hand to her knee. "These Twi'lek have proven themselves to be dangerous. If they were looking to incite rebellion throughout the Republic, we need to act fast. What else did they say?"

It required deeper thought before Molbe had anything further to add. So many of the words had been rambled in a manner she could barely even comprehend. "Uh, one of them said, chir oola fita, towards the end of the last interrogation, when they were leaving. Next thing I remember was waking up in the new apartment I was apparently given."

Both Jedi looked to each other, but the significance of what had been said had been lost on Venu.

It pained Utan to translate it for her. "Kill Blue Six. That was Maarani's designation in Blue Squadron, I saw the flight patch myself." He stroked at his chin in troubled thought. Molbe was in danger. In fact, she had been from the moment Venu recognized her. And he had no idea on who could be trusted on Mirial.

His counterpart did, but her dubious actions were still on his mind. "I will ask the Council for further assistance. I would prefer if you remain under the protection of Jedi until we know the whole situation, Molbe. And I do still need that access code, and further use of your computer terminal."

"Of course, whatever you need…" Molbe grabbed onto Venu's shoulder in an attempt to stand. There was weakness in her legs, but nothing she wasn't able to overcome. Once able to move on her own, she slowly walked over to the nearby closet to retrieve her things.

"I haven't been living my life for the past few months anyway. I'd rather start over on my own terms." She had just a few things to pack, the rest was left behind to make her departure less conspicuous. Little details that she had learned well so many years ago. "One other thing, Venu…" Her eyes went down immediately. The thought in her mind was difficult to contemplate.

Venu's lip tightened at the tone used. It had already given her a fair idea of what was about to be said.

"Hodechi was in that building when it blew. I haven't seen her since, so I'd say she was also taken. She was already getting worse by then, I can't imagine what she'd have become under the same treatment."

"Won't have to. If I see her, I'll kill her and be done with it." Venu looked back to Utan one last time. In this case, her qualms were non-existent. "The White Terror has a semblance of sanity. Hodechi was our Sith leader, and she fell so far into the dark side I doubt anyone could save her if she's still alive. Keep that in mind if she finds you first."

* * *

"How the hell did they come to that conclusion?"

Aruga could only shrug. He was just as dumbfounded as Seradan by what had come through the communicator. "Seeing as we were not involved, I don't see how it couldn't be anything other than an incredible coincidence."

"I can't say it's one I hoped for." Seradan muttered a few things to himself, becoming lost in thought and contemplation. It had created a very bad situation for them to navigate. Getting the Jedi involved well before time was bad enough, and there was now even more unwanted attention being thrown on them.

One thing eventually stood out as an advantage to be exploited. "They still seem to be assuming that we make up the majority of the Hidden Hand. Move our agents to ready stance, they will be under less suspicion now. Keep close eye on the little man in particular."

Once more, Aruga waited for the projection to be terminated from Seradan's end before returning to relay the next set of orders. "Establish observation on Mirialan law enforcement buildings and Republic Army stationed posts. Resume efforts to bypass security lockouts on the archives, but don't access files before the Jedi Utan has. Until then, watch for information relating to an explosion at the time of the riots, in particular who was declared missing in said attack. That is all."

* * *

The cantina was surprisingly empty at that hour when Izan and Jayden wandered in. He could tell Soogo was in a worse mood than usual from the fact he was actually bothering to clean the glasses surrounding him. Even the infamous dancer was sitting on the edge of her platform to talk with the only customer in that area.

He approached the bar first anyway, nodding to a seat for Jayden. "Soogo! How have you been old man? We need a holdover shot until we're ready to leave, think you can rustle something up?"

Soogo snorted into one of the glasses upon seeing him, as a display of ironic disgust. "Didn't you get shot up thinpig?"

Izan's stomach was too busy churning at the awful display.

"Speak up boy! You've got a lot to answer for here. The tab for one, and getting friendly with that rat who upset the slut over there!"

The dancer across the room looked up from her conversation after hearing the all-too familiar yell. Upon laying eyes on Izan, she hissed and spat in his direction.

"This place is awful. Mucus and saliva flying everywhere. I bet there's other bodily fluids just waiting to be found too." Jayden by then had elected to get back off the seat, and avoided touching anything further. Even by the standards of backwater crime nests it was too much. "I'm leaving, and I suggest you join me."

That flared up Soogo's already bad mood further. He shoved Izan off the stool and reached to grab Jayden's arm in the same time. "Say that to my face you oversized tinhead! Only thing the Jedi failed at was wiping your kind out!"

She looked down at the hand at her arm with the coldest of expressions, then back at him. "Well, there's more irony for you."

Her hand twisted around to grasp his. In one motion, she channeled her power into hauling his heavy body over the bar and onto the floor beside Izan. Once he had scurried out of the way, she drew her lightsaber and activated it right over his face.

"Mandalore the Preserver should have waited longer before saving your gluttonous ass. But you don't see me complaining about it, do you?"

"Get off me!" His attempt to push her foot off his chest was as fruitless as expected. "Rija! Help me you stupid bitch!"

"Lyl schutta!"

Jayden's hand was out and ready to catch Rija before she made it halfway across the room. She only had to close it enough to keep the Twi'lek from squeezing out to keep her contained. The slapping and beating against her arm was too pathetic for her to bear.

"Izan, mind explaining to these two that they should apologize if they want me to leave them alone?"

"Uh, well… Rija is it? I did technically save your life a month ago, unless you happen to be on the same bitch-level as my mother which apparently lets you survive massive stomach wounds, not to imply anything…"

His mouth had lost all ability to move by that point. The sight of Dana standing in the doorway, expressing an actual emotion for once, was beyond what he could comprehend after everything else that had just happened.

She backwaved at the dancer, who immediately went to sleep, then looked up to Jayden. "I just spent two hours clearing up the previous mess, and you've already caused another?" The only thing to shock her further was the blatant lack of attention they had gathered. Even the patron by the now empty dance platform was showing disinterest.

Jayden reluctantly lifted her boot off Soogo's chest, but not before she took the time to wipe it thoroughly on his jacket. Rija she dropped on top of him in the most non-chalant of ways. "Izan wanted to show me around while we waited on Maarani, and this man decided to be a terrible host. That's all."

Dana shook her head down in disbelief, her hand clasping over her forehead. "Tour's over. Teegs will be out by now." She looked at the Twi'lek on the floor as she was rudely shoved aside by her employer. "Go back to the ship, make sure Zariba is alright. We've got too many upset Twi'lek already."

This time it was Jayden's turn to leave with a shrug, while Izan sulked on behind her.

Dana gave Soogo one last look of bemusement before leaving to retrieve Maarani. "One of these days, we will get to leave a place without anything terrible happening…"


	33. Evil Eyes Watch Over Us

Droids of all sizes were whizzing by alongside hover cars carrying the heavier materials through the Temple halls. What had originally been intended as a cleanup detail had expanded to restoring paintwork and masonry. And that had been expanded to repairing and repurposing several rooms and areas. And that had been expanded again to structural reinforcement of the towers that had been damaged in the sacking.

And from a not-so-anonymous note, it had also been made to include installing holographic signposts and a method of making hoverbikes more readily accessible.

It only added to his perplexed musings on the woman herself. The Surik that Carth had met on Citadel Station two weeks earlier, and the one that he had come to know since then seemed as far apart as the stars themselves.

In the face of danger, she was steady, determined. The threat was at hand, and she was prepared to deal with it swiftly. Minimal casualties, maximum effectiveness.

In the face of calm, she was a little too laid back for his liking, always smiling in what he could only describe, to himself, in an aloof manner. She wasn't arrogant in thinking that she was above everyone else of course.

From what he had gathered over those two weeks from Bastila, it was the epitome of what Jedi strived for in detachment from the rest of life, in a sense. More often than not she ended up muttering half the assertion to herself while she went off to attend to another concern that had arisen in the five minutes respite she had managed to find, and he had to make a lot of assumptions about what was being said. When he himself was still paying attention. Which was only half the time comparatively.

"Carth? Did you forget something?"

He shook himself out of the daze with a slight chuckle. "There's irony for you…"

"What?"

"Nevermind." Yet another droid flew by on its way to one of the tower supports, where a few Jedi were tirelessly assisting in the delicate process. "I don't think I'll be forgetting this anytime soon. No offence, but I don't recall the old Jedi Order helping out with problems like this, ever. These are technically the old Jedi sure, but I still can't help seeing them in a new light."

"Then I suppose Surik's plan for the road ahead has been successful. So far." She didn't want to admit to herself that there was hints of discomfort behind her words. Idealism was not inherently bad, and certainly not for a Jedi. She had to keep reminding herself of that. "Exar Kun changed things drastically when he fell to the dark side and attacked us. Now we face another drastic change. I do not know what to think of it at this point."

The sight of some of their first initiates walking by made her sigh. It wasn't because they lacked Force sensitivity, but rather that she knew from the start they would leave or wash out within months based on their behaviour alone. Most of the early initiates would of course be adults. It was inevitable given the situation. It didn't make the fact that time and effort was inevitably going to waste any better by any means.

Fortunately for her, that was the most of her current complaints. There were quite a few Jedi who had returned with partners, and in some cases very young children. So far she had been far too busy to make time for sitting down and discussing the unique case they were going to face in the coming years. When the whirlwind of tasks and orders had settled however, she had the solace of knowing her own struggles as a mother in the Order were no longer an issue.

"Huh, I didn't realize there were so many Jedi in her crew. Well, I'm assuming they're Jedi. Guess there aren't enough robes to go around yet?"

"For the time being, the only expectation in regards to attire is decency. That is what I was told, despite the fact that Mira seems to be exempt from that anyway." Bastila took a breath to re-establish her composure just before they were ready to approach the planning area that some had gathered in.

Atton was the first to take notice, looking up from varying schematics of the temple's security systems. "Well, if it isn't 47's two favourite people in the galaxy, back together at last. I assume you came about the messages?"

Both Bastila and Carth looked to each other in confusion. It was the former who asked the obvious question.

"What message? We just came back from another progress appraisal."

In the silence that followed, Atton scratched the back of his head awkwardly, trying hard to recall exactly what he had been told earlier. "Uh, someone way out in the middle of nowhere sent a holocron here with messages for your lot. Jodi Bimbo I think?"

"Jolee Bindo." Bastila's hand went to the side of her head while muttering under her breath. "I suppose I should be relieved to hear he survived the purge. But, I am instead concerned about why he has not come back yet. If he is capable of recording to and sending a holocron here…"

"Maybe he decided to stay put. Never thought I'd hear the end of him complaining about old age, wouldn't surprise me."

Atton's eyebrow began to rise at what Carth had just said.

"Long story. Like his actually, come to think of it… Uh, I assume that Surik's got the holocron with her right now?"

"Yeah, she wanted to view her message in private first. I'm guessing she's got a plan for the others that doesn't require a pass-along of the holocron itself. And there's something else she wanted to check out first. About as vague as I've come to expect from actual Jedi. No offence Bastila."

There was a drawn-out glare from her. "I am not vague. I simply choose my words carefully, and sometimes I decide to prompt a little thought in others."

"Whatever you say. She'll have the messages ready at the Communication level when they're ready."

Bastila sighed in no discrete way, her hand moving to support her forehead. She wanted to see the Council room in perfect condition again. The sight of it alone had given her comfort in the past, despite whatever was said within those walls about her. Meanwhile, the activity in the communications had given her consistent headaches.

It wouldn't do well to ignore what could be revealed to them however. "Fine. I am certainly looking forward to it."

* * *

The room was near pitch black, save for the soft glow of the holocron on the centre table. She had been staring at it for a full half hour. Nervous, tense, excited, relieved. So many feelings were running through the back of her mind, while at the forefront, she was contemplating the possibilities sitting right in front of her.

Perhaps Jolee had come across one of the ancient Jedi temples from millennia ago, and was now sharing what he had learned with the Order. Or he had decided to gather his lifetime of experience, musing and contemplation into one source to be learned from.

More than likely it contained some cranky rants and long winded tales, based on what the others said of him.

She wanted it to be all three.

After drawing a final breath of determination, she gestured her hand over the holocron. The mechanisms slid open, transforming the cube into a projection platform as was expected from that design. A hologram of Jolee's head appeared above it.

"Meetra Surik. And here I was thinking that the Jedi Order was inevitably headed towards doom. Well, now that doom has come and gone, I suppose now is a good a time as any to retire. Let the young people do as they please with things while I kick back and enjoy…"

She grinned when the projection actually reached up to rub at its left temple. Only he would add such a detail to a recording that wasn't actually made after physical actions.

"Damn fool I am. Can't go two months without wishing I was on a nice tropical planet in the company of nice people."

The smile grew more when she pictured him lying on a beach, and ranting at all the Twi'lek assistants just trying to help him enjoy the day. "You'd get bored within a week anyway. The nice life was never for people like us."

Her eyes widened a bit when the projection glared at her momentarily.

"Now, I can't say I fully comprehend just what it's like to have the fate of an entire group of young, impressionable Jedi resting on your every word. I can say that if you mess things up, I'm coming out of retirement! Again! And it won't be pretty!"

"I think I can handle some verbal sparring. One of the few things I learned from Kreia that I can still consider useful."

"Urgh… there I go again, ol' coot having another rant huh. Guess you've been through that plenty enough already."

A tightness tugged at her lips. That was very coincidental indeed.

"I know we only ever talked in person once, and as much as I'd like to take credit for some 'free thinking' rubbing off on you, I can't find myself feeling anything other than awe at the courage it took to make the declarations you did."

The smile returned. So far, she had yet to hear such encouragement from anyone. It was little bother to her, as they were still going through the motions of recovery. Words of support like that were still in short supply.

"That doesn't excuse running around in my robes, letting them get dirty, and then shredded by blaster fire!"

That brought out a soft chuckle. "They didn't fit well for one. And as it turns out, grey isn't my colour."

The projection made a grumping sound in response. "At least do me the decency of having them cleaned and repaired before they get hung up in some dusty old display. Need to keep things authentic after all. Now, if you haven't had enough of listening to the wise Jedi from afar yapping at you, there's a lot more to enjoy. Just you wait. And no refunds."

Her smile was as wide as ever when she leaned back into her seat. The respect she had always held for him was now coupled with further admiration. He was as described, and so much more. And it sounded very much like her earlier theories were true after all.

"I'll be glad to listen to those stories, once the messages have been delivered." She reached out her hand to explore the contents of the holocron itself for what else was waiting inside.

"Typical Jedi, flapping your hands around to make things go your way. So rude."

Her fingers tightened back immediately. She was ready to pin down the backchat as a mild delusion from exhaustion, except for the fact that the hologram was glaring at her directly.

Her jaw lowered a little, the point Jolee had made just beforehand really starting to set in. "You've found a way to talk through the holocron matrix itself?"

"No you imbecile!" Holo-Jolee folded his arms at the threshold of what was being projected with a loud gruff. "I am the core personality of a holocron, a delicately crafted miracle of technology and magical doo-hickey you fleshbags call the Force. And what is the first task I am given by my creator? Delivering mail! Disgraceful!"

"None of the other holocrons converse like this…"

"Do you need three guesses why? They'd be just as fed up as I am with being treated as artifacts to be shoved away in tight alcoves, pulled out only by Jedi who can't be bothered to figure out things on their own! I've barely been on for ten relative minutes and already I feel deprecated!"

"No refunds doesn't mean no reprieve." Surik closed the holocron back up over the protesting of its core personality. It glowed for a while after being sealed, then eventually settled down into a more typical faint aura of blue.

She waited a while longer before gesturing again, allowing the holocron to open back up once more. Holo-Jolee greeted her with a very sour expression.

"All the young'uns are so damn rude. I'm doomed to exist in a box already, and you think it's okay to close it up on me when you feel like it."

"As the real Jolee just said, I've had my share of old people yelling at me for the slightest misstep out of what they consider to be the line. If you want to stay open, first step would be uploading those messages to the communications centre, and then sharing whatever advice and thoughts has been put in there with you. Deal?"

The hologram grumped at her again, made a few more grunts to himself while in a thoughtful pose, and eventually nodded in agreement.

"Good. That's where I'm headed now then." She stood up and took hold of the open holocron in one hand, eventually twisting it into a firm grip with her thumb just underneath Holo-Jolee's head. The blue glow was cast around the room in all sorts of odd angles when she walked out with it, a pattern that was soon spread to the hallway beyond.

Fortunately for her, there were few Jedi living in that section of the dormitory, most having been assigned to the lower levels that didn't require climbing several staircases while the lifts were being rebuilt. Unfortunately for her, it meant there were several staircases for her to descend, and then several more to climb at the tower base itself.

Because of the sheer amount of people in the Temple itself for the construction efforts, she had put a temporary ban on Jedi members using the Force to hasten their step. And she couldn't escape the irony that was now beating her over the back of the head while she made her way downward. With the blue glow in her face, and a mean glare accompanied by muttering the whole way.

Somewhere close to the ground level, her communicator began beeping away. Her free hand fumbled for it awkwardly in the dim light before she was finally able to take hold of it.

Bastila's projection soon appeared on the palm of her hand.

" _I'd like to discuss a few things with you, in private if you would. I'm currently in my quarters. Vaner is being cared for by Merena'Likta._ "

Surik glanced down the stairwell again. She wasn't far from Bastila's quarters at that point, but there was still the matter of delivering the holocron.

"I'm close by right now. In fact I was on my way to the comm tower with the holocron-"

" _Then I'd ask that you find someone else to take it there. I would much rather have this discussion before I hear from Jolee._ "

There was an awkward glance to Holo-Jolee, who was now frowning at Bastila's projection. All she would be seeing was an open holocron, which for the moment at least spared an awkward explanation.

"Alright, I'll do what I can." Another quick look at the deserted hallways was annoyingly fitting at that moment. She didn't exactly want to drag anyone out of bed for an errand that required a lot of walking and tolerance for a cranky hologram.

* * *

When Surik entered the room, she was greeted by a moderately lit space that bore the scent of a flower she couldn't yet identify, and Bastila's shoulder while she looked out over the darkened horizon of Coruscant. Her ever-present soft smile faded when there was no acknowledgement from her. Not at first anyway.

When it did eventually come, it was in a slight tilt of her head, a passing sigh of exasperation, the release of her tightly folded arms.

"Do you truly believe that we can defeat the Sith with words, promises and ideals? After you are gone, and it us up to the rest of us who can barely grasp your understanding of things." Her gaze moved away from the window slightly. "I know from experience, those things are never enough. To vanquish the ideals rooted in the dark side, we would have to understand them thoroughly, learn what we need to know to strike at the core of the Sith philosophy. That would go against the very basis of the Jedi Code."

Surik's response was a mild shrug while she stepped into the room and leaned back against the solitary armchair. "We're abandoning the old Jedi Code, Bastila, completely. I was planning to discuss this matter further with the rest of the Masters once they had been assembled."

The shock of it pulled Bastila away from the window. Her controlled demeanour was giving way to hints of frustration. "Abandon? After what we have just been through to restore things? I suppose you've already got a new one cooked up in the back of your mind then. Something meant to inspire this new direction the Jedi are meant to take."

The older woman raised her eyebrow.

Realization about the outburst began to set in for Bastila. After all those years, it was something she still hadn't overcome. And yet, in that particular instance, she felt it was very much justified.

"Many of us were raised to live by that Code. I do realize that most of your companions don't, but they are also not amongst the Jedi Masters you have been so insistent on waiting for. Traditions do not wear out in a person easily. They might not agree with this radical decision of yours."

A very small inhale parted Surik's lips. Her posture went a bit firmer. "You're speaking about yourself in this regard. Do you not trust the others to have the maturity and patience to hear out what everyone else has to say?"

Her expression remained solemn. She could see the exasperation at being accused underneath Bastila's cold glare. The situation was growing dangerous again. Conflict was the last thing she wanted to bring with her push for a new path taken.

It was with a more notable breath, one of calming, that she continued with. "Bastila, you were treated horribly by the Council after everything you, Revan and the others did for the galaxy. Their clinging to old ways in the face of unpredictability led to their deaths. This is the ideal time to make adaptations to the new circumstances around us. We are just two perspectives of the danger out there, and there are many more to be heard from. And as for dealing with the Sith…"

She cut herself off just before Merena entered the room with Vaner in her arms.

"I'm truly sorry for interrupting, but he was growing quite restless and calling for you Bastila."

Bastila left the window at last to take the young boy into her own embrace. It gave her an opportunity to shake off the displeased mood she had fallen into. "It is quite alright. I just wished for some full privacy to speak with Surik."

The brief glance was noted by Surik herself, who leaned back in her posture a little. "Bastila had some concerns she wanted me to address before we meet tomorrow. Speaking of which, has Masadar'Arani confirmed his arrival time?"

"Uh, yes, I believe he is due in about ten hours."

"Who is?" Bastila returned from the second room where she had set Vaner down briefly.

At that, Surik's small smile returned. "If words, promises and ideals are not enough to sway the Sith from their ways, perhaps some prompting with the help of a well trained empath will."

* * *

It was early morning when Surik sensed Yuthura's approach to the garden square. The restoration there had been swift, and what had previously been a desolate mess of dead plants was once again a blooming display of all manner of plants. The ideal place to finally converse with the old Jedi she had heard a great deal about.

She was gesturing her hand at one of the freshly filled ponds when the Twi'lek arrived in person. A few of the marine occupants flittered at the phantom movement on the water surface, but scattered when another arrived.

"Fish? I certainly hope that they don't end up the victim of a more unruly initiate…"

The smile returned when Surik looked to Yuthura. "They're attuned to the presence of Jedi. Often wary at first, but give a few moments and they'll consider communicating."

Yuthura raised an eyebrow before sitting down, watching the pond intently. As told, the fish did slowly return, all of which were rather unnervingly focused on her. Surik's gaze wasn't quite as unnerving, but it was clear that there was an expectation to indulge her earlier statement.

With a sigh, she carefully raised her hand and made a slow gesture with two fingers. A small trail rippled across the surface, which the fish followed as expected, before returning to the sort of behaviour she expected to see in the first place.

"I never was fluent in the language of aquatics. Sleheyron, Korriban, Ryloth, Jakku, Taris, and now Coruscant. Not exactly prime locations for those who live beneath the waves."

She frowned slightly when one of the fish poked its mouth just out of the surface to taunt her before swimming for cover again.

That just amused Surik further. "They're more fluent in Basic than I expected. That or they can tell you're just being stubborn."

"I have good reason to be. Stubbornness is how you survive years in hiding when surrounded by Sith outcasts that have every reason to..." Her fingers shoved into the skin of her forehead while she attempted to calm herself back down from anxiety. "It hasn't been easy by any definition. Quite frankly, were this meeting not crucial, I would need a month of recovery at least before my 'official' return."

"Funny, I've felt fine since coming back from Malachor V. Lot of Sith outcasts used to be there."

Yuthura's expression lowered to a mild scowl.

Surik widened her smile to try and ease the mood, but soon returned to her more natural demeanour. "You're right about this meeting crucial. And I'd be lying if I said I'm not going to need you here for the next month, but…"

Her voice trailed off when the disparaging look from the other persisted. "Okay, doing important tasks and helping to manage things half the time isn't by definition a proper recovery. I would think having other Jedi around ready to offer support is better than lying on some hokey beach in the backend of the galaxy with no-one else around."

"Perhaps to those who have spent these five years alone yes. I however wouldn't mind time to myself after holding my every thought in.

Another shuddering sigh parted Yuthura's lips. The thought of seeing those same outcasts at the Temple, looking for a chance to change. Were it others, like her former students from Korriban, she knew there would be nothing but elation. Those she had come to know were still making her catch on every breath, through her memories of them alone. They were a different breed of Sith entirely.

"I wasn't intending to make fun of what you've been through Yuthura. Take it from me; isolating yourself will hurt more throughout."

The first rays of sunlight finally appeared over the wall ahead of them. The fish were quick to react, twirling and rolling at the surface before returning to the depths and deeper shade again.

That was all the assurance Surik needed that it was time for them to return to the great hall. "If you give them a chance, they might help you find ways to recover here in the Temple. Right now we should be getting over to the meeting. I think you'll be impressed with just how many have gathered."

She led the way back through to where the others had gathered. There were at least thirty around the table by then, almost half were representatives from those outside the Jedi who had come to lay the groundwork for their support.

"Baran Do Sages, Dust Monks, Order of Felucia, Luka Sene, Sesk'nabsilai…"

The last in particular drew a concerned look from Yuthura. "They sent support? What I have heard of them did not speak well. I suppose I was too far out of their reach to be 'rescued' by them as a child."

"The Sith left Ryloth alone for the most part, despite the fact that the Sesk'nabsilai sheltered a lot of Jedi. I wasn't surprised that they were interested in more official relations." Surik stopped them both at the top of the staircase that wrapped around the hall floor. "Now is the time to tell me if there's something to be concerned with."

Yuthura was clearly pensive, and made several glances at the group of Twi'lek in the gathering before finally speaking up. "They have their own policy about how and when members are inducted into their order. And their beliefs are based on ancient Twi'lek religion, rather than a constant fact of life in the galaxy. I would not be surprised if they tried to establish more control over Twi'lek initiates in our Order. That is what you should be wary of."

"Then that's what I'll watch for. With so many others here, I doubt they'll make a fuss if we reject notions of the sort."

They continued down the stairs with little else said. Her attention was primarily focused on familiarizing herself with all the new faces before them, noting the appointed leaders, their current demeanour, and who they had chosen to make light conversation with. Something she quickly noticed was the lack of Canderous, or any Mandalorian for that matter.

As if prompted by that very concern, Visas left the group to meet Surik at the end of the stairs to explain just that. "The unrest on Mandalore has gotten worse, so Canderous asked Clan Mires to send a representative in his stead. She's due to arrive within the hour."

Surik immediately frowned in confusion. "Mires? Last I heard that world was holding a stalemate against the Neo-Crusaders. How did they end up-"

Visas gave a shrug while the trio were called back to the table. Those gathered soon went quiet, all waiting for Surik to officiate the meeting at last.

"I'll be sure to ask her then." A nod to Yuthura followed before she approached the table proper. The last time she had so many eyes trained on her under similar circumstances had been just over ten years previous. And while similar, the current circumstances were also completely reversed.

"Right now, there are just over a hundred designated Jedi Masters in the entire galaxy that are confirmed alive and well. Half of them are in the Temple right now. And, from reports given to us by many, most of which provided by Yuthura here, there are as many as three thousand Sith of varying skill levels out there."

She nodded to Bastila, who was waiting patiently on the other side of the table for her turn to speak.

"Meetra and I have discussed this problem at length. Even with the support of our allies, we just don't have the numbers to seek out and turn more than a third of those Sith within the year."

Her hand waved over the table, bringing up a galactic map that highlighted several areas of space.

"They will not wait around forever. These cells will inevitably band back together, hopeful leaders will rise and struggle for power, and once consolidated they will go into deep hiding. The best we can do is be selective about which cells we go after. Whether that be to offer a second chance, or…" There was a tense pause for breath. "To eliminate the cell before they make themselves a threat."

One of the Luka Sene spoke up at that moment, feeling rather bemused. "Some failed Sith acolytes must be nothing compared to Revan. Surely you won't feel sorry for putting your foot down in the face of defiance."

Bastila's expression darkened, though it was directed right back at Surik. "In this case, it doesn't inherently mean killing them. Surik wished to hear opinions on the morality of her backup plan I believe."

Both women looked to Masadar, who was standing somewhere in the middle of the Jedi. The young Twi'lek man glanced back with a hint of nervousness, but otherwise remained calm.

"The Sith don't know that there is a strong empath that was born into the Order. Masadar'Arani has already agreed to use his particularly unique gift with the Force to subdue the more resistant Sith that will be encountered by forcing down their aggressive emotions with passive ones, hopefully rendering them docile." Surik let the murmuring go around those gathered, and then fade away. "I want to make it clear that it would be solely for taking prisoners alive and unharmed. I meant it when I said we are doing away with indoctrination entirely, in all its forms."

When a period of silence followed, her lips tightened back a little. A lack of discussion wasn't what she had expected. "No immediate thoughts, comments, remarks?" She looked directly at Masadar, who gave a silent shrug in response.

It was the same Miraluka who decided to voice her brazen opinion again. "He can do the equivalent of stronger mind tricks that bypass the usual defences. I think just about all of us here have little issue with that kind of manipulation to begin with. Where is this moral ambiguity you seem to have conjured up from the imagination?"

"Quiet Sereti. Your tone is bordering on disrespect."

Once she had gone silent, the lead Luka Sene, Aibrehl, cleared his throat. "My pupil has a point, though she should have used more appropriate wording. I think we can all agree that allowing this young man to deal with the arrogant, unstable and deluded in a non-violent manner is far better than resorting to execution."

He turned his head to Masadar to make it clear he was being addressed directly. "The real question would be your safety in this. I don't doubt that you are capable of this if Surik is so confident it will work. The concern I see is what kind of effect opening yourself to Sith minds will have."

The concern was all too familiar to Masadar. He made no attempt to hide that fact, only ensuring that the lingering resentment wasn't going to be a distraction. "I expect to be accompanied by at least three Jedi Masters on any such mission to the Sith. If we had more time, I would rather give training that I developed that helps with resisting the influence, but as mentioned, we don't."

He glanced to Yuthura, who gave him a nod of approval in return.

"I fully expect those I am accompanied by to take necessary action. I won't allow a third Sith army to rise in a single decade through my own failing."

The sincerity in his voice was clear. Some were clearly about to remark in admiration when they were interrupted by the arrival of a young man in apparent haste.

"I apologize for the interruption…" His gaze had set on Yuthura, a smile forming in response. "Master Ban, it's good to see you."

"Kel… I thought they killed you at Dantooine…"

Her shock took a while to fade, though it was helped by a reassuring clasp to her shoulder from Surik.

She slowly cleared her throat after looking to the others. "I'm glad to see you after all these years. What is it you had to say?"

The smile grew a little more as he motioned to the table. "I returned to Korriban after the attack in the hopes of convincing those that refused to fight Revan to instead find a new path. When we got the message, I volunteered to come here on their behalf." The projection on the table vanished, now replaced by a currently empty communication hologram. "Many of them are still wary about joining the Jedi. I had hoped that Master Surik could convince them, but they might be more receptive to a familiar face."

Surik noticed some disgruntlement in the meantime about the interruption, which brought on her own smile. "Masadar and I already agreed to visit Korriban first when things here were sorted. And I believe it is vital that we all here show that the promise to the Sith made was genuine." She looked over to Yuthura, sliding the hand off her shoulder. "You're up."

With a disconcerted look, Yuthura made her own gesture to ensure the transmitting hologram was of herself. "I assume they're actually ready on the other end. I don't think I'd enjoy giving a speech of my own to an empty room.

" _We're here Ban._ "

Another Twi'lek appeared on the table hologram, young in age, and looking quite distrustful.

" _If Algwinn hasn't already made it clear, we've been stuck here for years, most of us terrified that either Darth Sion or Surik would come through and wipe us out. We heard all about the other Sith she killed, en masse._ "

Surik's lips tightened down. There was going to be no apologizing on her part, but no defending either.

Yuthura's confidence picked up more in contrast. "Rilana, you all know me. When I swear that she's left that behind her in returning to the Jedi Order, that's with complete honesty." She looked to Masadar and some of the other Jedi. "However many of you left the Order in the past, you know that things could have been better. And so far, they are. You can come back here, or we can send a few to discuss things further, it's your choice."

There was a period of silence from Rilana. From the look of it, she was consulting with others, and even seemed to be getting into the start of a heated argument. It soon faded down, and her transmission resumed.

" _We'll need a ship, might as well send some Jedi over, friendly ones. Algwinn took the only one we had left after Czerka bailed, too small to take even a quarter of us offworld. No promises on how many choose to come._ "

"We don't want trouble. If they choose to leave and don't get involved with any regrouping Sith, then this is the last they hear from us. I'll be waiting here for however many of you arrive."

A nod from Rilana preceded the end of the transmission.

The effect it had on those gathered was mixed. Aibrehl was once again the one to speak up. "Much more diplomatic than I expected. That or living on rations for years has tempered whatever emotional turbulence they draw from. It remains to be seen if they will commit to redemption."

"I think I know who most of them are already. Rilana not so much, she joined just weeks before Revan's arrival." Yuthura took a reassuring breath to keep herself firm. "The real concern should be not allowing this easy victory to set a precedent. Other cells will be much harder to turn. I'm just glad we can secure Korriban without a fight."

"Agreed, but we can discuss those other cells when we have formed proper action groups to deal with them."

Surik changed the projection yet again to a display of the Temple database. Records on all subjects slowly circulated around the hologram surface.

"There's a lot to discuss yet. Organizing instructors, who we recruit from other organizations, establishing further support from the Republic military. It's a long day ahead, and probably a long week, but I don't doubt that the outcome will be of huge benefit to all."

She took a look past the group on the odd chance that 'Mires' had finally arrived. No such luck.

"Seeing as our Mandalorian still hasn't arrived, I think we can start with recruitment."

(Since I can't add author's notes here, I'm just stating that I will be launching an anthology of side stories and other content on archiveofourown that will fill in a lot more of events relating to this chapter and other story points. Quite frankly I'm not happy with how story organization for multiple shorter works here, it will be easier to manage there. Also blame flu and a lack of knowing chapter direction for the excessive delay, my bad!)


	34. And All Her Secrets Laid Bare

Unlike _Twa'janii Station_ , _Ord Lagaran Staging Platform_ offered the first of many needed reassurances with the dense and diverse population to be found there. A great many ships had been entering and leaving the system when they arrived. It was far too large to be all part of yet another conspiracy just waiting to be sprung upon them.

It was all Maarani could think about in the time it took them to get from Telos to Ord Lagaran. Even before they arrived at the Exchange outpost, she knew that she would inevitably have to confront Zariba alone, on her own terms. And with the other four set to wander the station in search of supplies and new weapons while the ship itself was given an overhaul, that time of confrontation had arrived.

"Two thousand credits? What exactly are you hoping to buy Cecile?"

She could hear the four arguing in the centre room from her seat at the kitchen alcove. Cecile using deductive logic to justify her excessive share. Dana making the valid point that she could get stolen just for holding that much money. Izan asking the equally valid question about what she actually intended to purchase with that money.

As expected, Jayden's voice rang out loud yet again.

"You haven't decided? Cecile, this isn't an excursion to a racing arena. And there's still too much junk lying around here already."

The discussion went on for a bit longer before it finally broke up. Cecile had somehow gotten her requested funds after all, and was the first to make her way over to the boarding ramp.

Maarani's gaze returned to her drink while two of the others followed after. The last took a seat opposite her. She knew immediately that it wasn't Zariba, as she hadn't been let out of her confinement yet.

"Are you certain you want to do this alone? We won't be able to help if something goes wrong, not immediately anyway."

She dragged a fingernail across the table. Safer to have Dana there certainly. But it would also inhibit what she could say, what she wanted to say. For all the nice things she had said and from the moment they met outside the Jedi Temple to that very question, there were still things that Maarani couldn't bring herself to say in front of her.

"I'll manage. I need to know what happened that one night together for starters. And that is absolutely between myself and Zariba."

Dana's breath slowed a little. The particularly volatile nature of Maarani's mood swings lately had become taxing. And that last thought carried a great deal of bitterness with it. Her moment of concentration was just that, a brief pause, but it had been quite the strain within.

"I'm going to say this again for the sake of it. I will listen to anything you have to get off your chest. I'm not the Jedi Council watching over a padawan who's showing signs of a bad path being taken after all. The bond between master and student, psychologist and patient, or however else you want to look at this has to be above that. Alright?"

Maarani didn't waver in her glare. She didn't want to look Dana in the eye just yet.

"I've got too much to get off my chest. Just go and get Zariba in here already."

Her lips tightened in a little when she finally heard Dana walking off, and returning a minute later with Zariba in hold.

"Sit. And don't forget that I will know if you try anything at all. You won't get one foot off the ship."

Were the mood different, that might have struck Maarani as unusual for Dana to say. Right then and there, she didn't care. For once in her life, she was the one calling the shots, laying the rules, and asking the questions.

It wasn't until she heard Dana leaving the ship altogether that she finally took a deep breath and lifted her head, meeting Zariba's equally cold gaze.

"After we're done discussing the truth about what happened on _Twa'janii_ , I'm going to tell you a little more about myself. Because, I want you to understand just how painful your betrayal was to me. The others won't understand just how hard it is to feel anything when you've had your emotional heart torn out time and again. And you did that one too many times…"

Difficult as it was to find a decent spot to actually stop and talk on the station, Dana did eventually find a suitably recognizable sign for them to meet under.

"We meet back here when Teegs calls, or in three hours. If something comes up, or you're being followed, notify whoever is nearest. Hopefully we don't have to leave before we actually get everything we came here for."

Izan scratched around the back of his head. "Which was what exactly? I know we never actually got those EVA suits for one. And we can't exactly do much flight training in three hours."

"I'll work out the EVA suits, they're bound to have a Twi'lek helmet here as well. Flight training can wait for when we get the ship upgraded properly." Dana looked up to Jayden, who had seemingly already found something to focus her attention on. "Discrete communicators would be ideal, the sort that fit in the ear if you see them on the way. Maybe they also have one designed for Twi'lek women."

"Possibly. I'll be looking for personal shield generators of decent quality in the meantime. Both you, Izan, and Maarani need something better than leather jackets for protection."

Dana gave a shrug to that before looking to Cecile. The droid had been watching them all in surprising silence, barely even moving a finger. "Still not going to tell us what you're planning on doing?"

Cecile's eyes flickered, and her usual idle motions returned again. "If I told you, I might not be allowed to proceed. Rest assured that I have the best interest of the Mistress in mind. Good day."

The remaining trio watched her shuffle off in surprised silence. That was rather more polite of Cecile than they had come to expect. And while her silence was suspicious, there wasn't a whole lot she could do without them finding out immediately anyway.

When the silence grew awkward, each looked to the others with a bit of a shrug.

Jayden put her helmet back on before preparing to leave. "I expect we'll be done in just one hour, if that. Ord Lagaran is not known for its cuisine or alcohol if you're looking for distractions." She left without further word, her helmet still visible above most of the crowd until she was beyond the curvature of the corridor..

Izan shoved both hands in the pockets of his jacket, glancing to Dana. "So, assuming that buying more pazaak cards would be utterly pointless for everyone else, what's left for me?"

"Supplies, I think it's time we avoided populated planets for a few weeks."

She made an observational look around the rest of the corridor. If anything, he had already done his part in securing more funds for them to work with, and at no small personal cost. Handling the harder items herself only seemed fair.

"Something to help Teegs sort out the mess of parts would help too. Maybe a second droid?"

After scratching his beard, Izan gave another shrug. "I'll see what I can do."

Utan was still surprised by how empty the archives were as he entered the expansive hall again. Something he had noticed before was that the area below the walkways and the workstation itself had been giving off a bioluminescent light. Only now it was far brighter, casting the columns that continued to float around silently in a jade light.

It made it harder to see from a distance that the previously brilliant consoles had been dimmed, likely as a result of Molbe's absence. In further discussion, she had mentioned that her work there was solitary, and it was unlikely that a replacement would be ready so soon.

Whatever other risks there were to accessing the files had to be considered irrelevant. Every day spent on Mirial with unseen enemies moving in put both Molbe herself, and Maarani's group in increasing danger. And with more secure access codes in hand from his slicing efforts the day before, now was the time to dive into the truth.

It took more effort than expected to clamber up onto the solitary chair available on the platform, likely due to a lack of it ever needing adjustment when there was only one operator at a time. When he did finally settle into the surprisingly cold seat, the panels laid out before him lit back up into the dazzling display.

"Hm."

He gestured to a control system on his left. A hologram flickered into existence before him, depicting the appearance of an older Mirialan man in a rather overtly firm stance.

" _Sento! Ni kawa lok si nawa! Sen-_ "

The hologram vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, a gruff from Utan following after. His understanding of the Mirialan language was quite poor, something Venu knew as evident by her 'private' conversations with Molbe. And the tone that the hologram spoke with didn't give the helpful impression either.

His attention moved towards the centre panel, another gesture bringing up an interface that displayed text in Mirialan.

"Last time I decline language studies…" He closed his eyes and raised his hand to the screen. After a few moments, it finally began cycling through translations until setting on Basic.

That time he grunted in approval and began browsing through the very well organized lists. As he guessed earlier, a number of the floating pillars were built around non-Republic data storage systems, likely containing either records from the very early days of Mirial, or from worlds they had conquered since then.

Yet another surprise came when he narrowed his search down to a specific segment. On cue, the pillars began to glide around silently in order to make way for the one in question as it moved towards the central panel. A beam of soft green light formed between the two objects, allowing for full data access at last.

"A little impractical, if not intriguing."

His musing continued while he scanned through the files in question. Most of it he had already seen back on Coruscant. Daily reports of Blue, Green and Zeta Squadron' patrols, 227th Infantry Division's peacekeeping operations on the ground, records of supply shipments to and from Mirial.

Further in, he found more previously viewed files, most notably the psychological reports he had poured over with Pettadal.

A cold feeling began to form as a closer examination revealed that Maarani's specific files were undeniably absent. As was any detail in the reports that he hoped would lead him to the answer he sought.

With another gruff, he slid off the chair to access the underside of the panel with a slicing tool concealed in his left pocket.

" _Unauthorized access detec-_ "

Hearing the same Mirialan voice cut off a second time brought a smile to his face as he clambered back out from under the panel. The intrusion would be discovered eventually. But with luck, he would be back on Coruscant by then, and thus spared the experience of explaining himself.

* * *

To the utter horror of Cecile as she walked into the droid workshop, the single attendant and apparent engineer of the place was yet another bright blue Twi'lek. And she looked just as young as Maarani, if not younger still. It was already bringing back horrible memories of the Mirialan child from the depths of her memory core.

"Oh wow! A 3rd Iteration CC droid!" The Twi'lek hopped over the table in a moment of excitement to get a closer look at the now panicked droid. "No-one's been taking care of you for a while huh? All the synthflesh is gone, there's corrosion everywhere."

Cecile pushed her hands away when they came uncomfortably close to feeling her over. "Please, I have enough trouble as is keeping my Mistress at bay." When the Twi'lek relented at last, she straightened up and lowered her arms back down. "I need a combat protocol module installed, as well as a wireless transceiver for my vocabulator. I have sufficient credits for parts and services, and would prefer minimal interaction."

The Twi'lek hummed in thought, then finally shrugged and made her way back to the workshop area. "Just lay down on the table and I'll get to work. 3rd Iter CC's have front access for the head, right?"

A low buzz came from Cecile's vocabulator. The memories were not going away anytime soon.

"Yes."

"Great, I'll get everything together then, we can be done in half an hour." She made her way around the cluttered workspace, searching every drawer for the requested parts, and the tools and programming chips necessary to implement them.

After pulling a nearby cart over with her foot, she glanced back at Cecile, who by then had settled herself on the metal worktable. "I'm Lani by the way. Uh, anything else you want installed? Could always call up your 'Mistress' if you need more credits."

Cecile buzzed again, not doing a good job of hiding her discontentment. "Designated CC-13. The items I requested are enough."

"Sure thing."

As soon as Lani brought the cart over, a bag of credit chips was dropped on it by Cecile. With a short sigh, she took the bag over to a nearby table and returned to work. "Before you shut down for maintenance mode, I need to know if there's anything important I should be aware of. Modifications, enhancements, deficiencies…"

"Running diagnostics…" The buzz came on yet again, accompanied by a rapid flickering of her eyes. "No abnormalities detected."

"Fine, I'll get started when you're ready."

"Initiating maintenance shutdown procedure."

Once the final buzz had been sounded, Lani reached in at last to unclasp Cecile's face. The hinge at the top was stiff from age, but didn't require a discomforting amount of effort to push open. Below the faceplate was a different story. While some parts had clearly been replaced within the past few months, most of the components were grimy and potentially shorting out.

"No wonder you're buzzing and flickering."

After removing the upper component layer and setting it aside, she had a much better view of the protocol and memory cores. The nanny protocol package was there as expected, while alongside it sat what she soon recognized as a starship maintenance package.

"Your 'Mistress' has a strange sense of humour, and doesn't think to clean everywhere apparently."

She proceeded to remove a few more of the other components to provide better access to the package slots, and to the vocabulator further down. Right before installing the combat module, the memory core's placement finally caught her attention.

"It shouldn't be this low down, so why would anyone move it..."

With some careful unlatching, and a more precise tool, she undocked the package sockets and lifted the whole mess out. Above the memory core in question, stamped with 'CC-13', sat what looked to be a second memory core. It took a fair amount of work to wipe away enough grime to find 'DCE-06' stamped into the metal casing.

"DCE? What the hell is DCE?"

She glanced over at her computer terminal. Something felt very off about the second core, but the fact that she had never heard the acronym once before worried her.

On reaching her decision, she left the other components on the cart and hastily wiped her hands down on her overalls on the way to the computer. A quick search of the station database gave nothing in regards to the acronym either.

With nothing else to go on, she returned to her task with the mindset of trying to ignore the discovery for as long as she could.

Just like that, the second memory core was covered back up, piece by piece. The transceiver fitted onto the vocabulator, protocol packages reinserted, and the inner components of her face clipped back into place. When the plate came back down, there was virtually no sign that anything had changed.

"Re-initialize, maintenance complete."

She was quietly relieved when Cecile powered on and sat up without any issue. No flickering or buzzing, and no apparent change to her personality.

"I don't feel any different. There isn't a sudden compulsion to go to a firing range and test out some blasters."

"Droid's don't have compulsions, or feel things though…"

Cecile shrugged Lina's words off while removing herself from the table altogether. "I have no reason to believe you skimped on parts there. It's not like I was recently accosted by Twi'lek mechanics on a crazy cultist colony after all. Good day."

When she left the workshop area, over the disapproving hums of Lina, her eyes flickered.

* * *

"I came to that dinner with a blaster shoved between my boobs. Izan and I both felt something was off. I told him to forget it because I thought you were pretty, and wanted to trust you."

Zariba's lip trembled a little, her gaze having drifted well away from the cold glare across from her.

"You had so many opportunities to tell me something was wrong, that we had to leave. We slept together and you told me nothing!"

The trembling faded, if just a little. For all the pain that Maarani had caused in turn, the words just spoken cut deeper than ever.

Her head slowly lifted, though her eyes were slower to do so, held back by her ever-present apprehensions. "You betrayed me too. I was terrified of what you'd do if I told the truth sooner, that you'd run off without me, the only friend I've been close with. I guess it's even worse than I thought huh?"

A very faint rumble ran through her fingertips into the table, pupils tightening as a spark of self-assuredness flared up. "I thought you were feeling guilty all this time, that you'd eventually apologize." The rumbling grew a little louder. "You don't give a shit about anyone other than yourself though, not unless they always put on a nice smile for you. My father loves me more than you think. More than you ever could. I'm starting to understand that now."

Some impulse in the depths of Maarani's mind told her to lash out. A strike to put her prisoner in place. The impulse had Omena's voice behind it.

" _Zariba, I told you I'd know the instant you try using the Force. You've got five seconds-_ "

"I'm handling it Dana."

She nearly threw the communicator across the room on an identical impulse.

"I told you, I've lost so many people that I loved over the years. It hurts more when I open up after four only to be stabbed like this. I had to learn how to get over it on my own." For the first time since Zariba had sat down, her eyes wandered down to the table. "I'm not here to make myself feel better about taking you hostage against a death threat."

She reached into her jacket and slowly removed a projector. After making a few adjustments, she set it on the table between them.

The first display was of a young Twi'lek girl, bearing vaguely similar tattooing to Maarani's original patterns.

"Nurrina and I were childhood friends. We were around eleven when we started to draw closer, bit by bit…"

Her voice was starting to waver, small shudders racking through her fingers as she reached up to the projection. Eventually after that, her gaze rose up again.

"I was barely fifteen when she was taken by the Hutts. So many of my friends were dragged from their beds screaming. When my parents went to rescue them, they didn't come back with Nurrina."

Zariba's expression was cold.

It didn't stop Maarani from proceeding. The second image was of a human woman, pretty to look at, and wearing an identical jacket to the one she had on.

"Tebahney, Blue Eight, Sharpeye was her flight name. Two months before the Mandalorian Siege we hit it off." A shuddering breath that wracked her nerves was drawn. Every memory drawing closer to the core of her pain. "She died spotting out a fatal error in our attack plan. We very nearly allowed the Mandalorian stealth fleet to fly into a massacre. And while she got a posthumous medal, I nearly got court marshaled for making good on her discovery."

This time, Zariba's lip tightened a little, as did her fingers now gripping onto either arm. "Am I supposed to feel sorry? You're not in a position to make me feel guilty. What happened to them is awful yes, but that's no excuse for what you've done."

Maarani snatched the projector away and shoved it back in her jacket. The fierce glare had returned at last. "Fuck you. Your father kills people in the name of a long gone malfunctioning droid! I fought for eight years to defend the billions of innocent people in the Republic! I am the one with the moral high ground here!"

Zariba's gaze turned down once more. "Keep telling yourself that…"

Tears began to well up. Maarani's self taught lie was coming undone altogether. The last straw had been pulled.

 _Hit her._

Blue flashed past Zariba's eyes. Her head shot up in a reflex to see Maarani's fist slamming into the bulkhead wall. Through the thud, she heard an unpleasant crack. Blood began to trickle down from the impact zone shortly after.

Maarani's breathing was very heavy, and a dangerous tone had come to her voice. "Go back to your room. Now."

She waited until the sound of the door being closed before pulling her hand away. It was shaking heavily, unsurprising as she had managed to break two of her fingers.

* * *

Izan was first back to the ship, leaning against a few crates containing food and medical supplies when the two Jedi returned. To his left was a rather rugged looking astromech droid that beeped to both in greeting.

"Maarani isn't in a good mood, figured I'd hide behind one of you rather than facing her alone."

The expected eyeroll came from Jayden to his surprise.

"I see no point in reminding everyone that I had serious doubts from the beginning, but then I don't need a reason to."

While Jayden went ahead with a few cases in hand, Dana approached more slowly, a hovercart carrying the EVA suits behind her.

"Have you talked to her yet, or is this just an assumption?"

"I haven't gone inside yet. But, something just felt like it was warning me she didn't want anyone near her." He rubbed at the side of his head briefly. It was now becoming a familiar feeling, something he had noticed most prominently on _Twa'janii Station_.

Dana already knew what the feeling was, though her understanding of it was still limited, so she remained silent on the matter. "Just get this stuff up to the cargo hold. We've got the cart on loan until we depart. I'll handle Teegs."

Shortly after the ascent into the ship, she noticed Cecile with a small case that contained four small blaster pistols However concerning the sight was, it was still a minor issue that would only get in her way.

"Teegs? You doing okay?"

From a glance through the bulkhead she saw an empty common room. And yet, that was the first place she was drawn to. "Teegs, you can't keep brooding about this. If you've said your peace, let the issue go…"

Her voice trailed off a bit after her glance around the room settled on a mess of blood on the bulkhead behind the table. Zariba hadn't done anything, so the only other possibility that remained…

She very nearly knocked Jayden over in her bolt to where Zariba was being kept. The door was thrust open with an equal amount of haste.

"What happened? Did she-"

All Zariba did was twitch the corner of her mouth into the hint of a smirk. By all appearances, she was untouched, and revelling in that fact.

"Some Jedi she's going to become."

Dana left the door open in her rush to the cockpit. In what was becoming an uncomfortably familiar sight, Maarani was focused entirely on the ship controls and paying no attention to her approach. This time however, she had a blood-soaked bandage around her hand, with some bits of plastic strapped down around two fingers.

"Teegs, what happened? And don't tell me 'nothing' when I'm looking at a bloodied hand."

"Fuck off."

At that, Dana grabbed the chair and forcibly turned it around. The resistance from Maarani was clear, and only made her own concern stronger.

"Zariba got to you, didn't she? She didn't even have to use her own powers for that." When the defiant expression persisted, Dana slowly reached up to clasp at her jaw, feeling more pressure than ever at that moment. "Jayden was right. Or at least was on the right track. Holding her wasn't enough to stop the Hidden Hand from trying to kill you. If anything happens to her, they'll go all out. And she knows that."

"Then I'll kill them when they come…"

Dana got down on one knee at that, her hand moving from the chair to Maarani's shoulder. "Right from the start, the Jedi Council made it clear to both of us that you are not to be involved in fighting. This kind of thinking will eat away at the good person I've come to know. The person that Masadar would be proud to call his daughter."

The tears began to start up again for the young Twi'lek, though they were not out of sadness, or guilt.

"You really don't know what you're talking about. You don't know me at all..."

Another sigh followed before Dana moved her hand yet again to prop her chin up enough to meet her watery gaze. "I'm not leaving your side throughout this ordeal. I was tasked with guiding you through these coming months, and nothing is going to change that."

There was a brief pause as she let Maarani's head drift back down again.

"Let me handle Zariba from now on, we can drop her off at the next landing point with credits to get back home and hope that it's enough to make Seradan back off. If it isn't, we'll face him when he comes. Together."

"And the HK-50 droids, and the Sith?"

Jayden had only just walked in, and was met with glares by the other two occupants. "I heard only that you plan to let the girl go and take our chances on the run. Quite frankly it sounds like a better plan than what this supposed visit to Jedi allies started out as."

"We didn't expect forces other than the Sith to take interest when the plan was made. And you still have a score to settle with the droids, no?"

For once, Jayden held her tongue. What Dana said sounded very suspiciously like an attempt to bait a reaction out of her. "I won't be alone when I face them next time. When we do find them, I'm calling in Mandalorian support to wipe them out decisively. That's my decision to make."

"As a liaison between the Jedi and the Mandalorians, not as someone who is supposed to be protecting Tegama."

"I can't protect her from her own mood swings. That was your job specifically in fact."

At that, she glanced over at the mess that was Maarani's right hand. A small sigh of disappointment came. "That explains the blood."

Between the glare from Dana, who by then had stood back up, and the downtrodden look of Maarani herself, Jayden finally relented with another small sigh.

"I sometimes hit things when I'm frustrated too. Maybe consider installing a punching bag at some point for us both to make use of."

"How long before you decide to use the Force to knock it clean off the roof?"

"Go away. Both of you."

Maarani left a streak of drying blood on her head when she rubbed up along her temples in a tired manner, looking to both shortly after. "We're going into deep space for a while, and I want to start my quiet time now. Zariba can wait a week longer."

Only when they both finally left did she turn her chair back around and set the final adjustments for departure from the station, now waiting on Izan to finish loading the ship. The prospect of having a week to herself without any crisis to overcome was barely enough to keep her from screaming.

* * *

" _Access restricted. Secondary authorization required._ "

For the upteenth time, Utan's forehead landed right in the palm of his hand. What had initially seemed to be a promising start to his slicing effort had led to block after block. The levels of security placed on that one file, and others hidden alongside it were astounding. Whatever the Hidden Hand had done on Mirial had Republic Intelligence shaking in their boots by all accounts.

As if to relieve him of the growing stress, his communicator signalled up again. Venu was on the other end unsurprisingly.

" _I don't mean to rush you, but I've heard word that some of the authorities here are growing suspicious of people running reconnaissance in the city. If you can't get the information soon, we'll have to abandon it_."

"I'm close, I just need a while longer." He hummed in thought for a few moments, looking at the restriction, then looked back to the hologram. "I need an access code from Republic Intelligence. Any one will do. Contact whomever you need to and relay it immediately. Until then, I'll try to slice through manually."

He barely had time to shut off the communicator before his awareness kicked in. There was danger approaching, and yet he was only just now sensing it. As he slowly turned around, the wrongness of that became even more apparent.

"Toss the lightsaber away."

Utan did just that with a growing frown. He slipped off the chair onto the ground as instructed by his new captor by a wave of her blaster. After a few moments, he finally recognized her.

"Chief Rinzaan. We met at a strategy meeting once. There to represent Republic Intelligence."

Rinzaan smiled at that, taking the moment to adjust the cap that concealed most of her native tattooing.

"We wanted to see how far the Jedi were willing to delve into the deep dark of matters where they don't belong. After all, you have secrets of your own to keep, and until now we chose to respect that. This intrusion changes things."

"I didn't believe Republic Intelligence would agree to release the information, even as part of an exchange. And if I asked, it would just be buried deeper."

The smile grew wider as her finger began to close down on the trigger. Seeing the Jedi squirm under the effects of the radiating resin was bringing a lot of joy indeed.

"You would find that these secrets are far better where they are than in the hands of anyone else. And as for the exchange of information, something tells me you wouldn't want to reveal why Tegama'Arani is so important to the Jedi…"

Her imposing speech was interrupted by a swift strike to the back of the head by Venu, who after shaking the pain out of her hand dragged the unconscious woman onto her back.

"What the hell is it with you getting caught out at the worst times? And by another Rattataki no less."

Utan gave only a slight shrug as he retrieved his lightsaber and clambered back onto the seat. "If that was the Force giving me exactly what I asked for, then it has a very unusual sense of humour today." To his short relief, the system hadn't timed out on him just yet.

"See if you can find anything that has her access code on it. And for that matter how did you get up here so quick-"

To his great discomfort, Venu was already performing a mind invasion on Rinzaan to obtain the code directly. Unlike Molbe, she had shown every intention to kill, and in this case there was little other choice, but it was still a very disconcerting sight indeed.

When Venu was done, she clutched at her head for a few moments before turning and stumbling up to the access panel. "She'll have a nasty headache when she wakes. I landed the ship nearby in a hopefully secure location. Seems that some other old friends of mine haven't taken kindly to the security alerts, we're on the verge of another riot in the city."

The computer cycled for a few seconds after the code was put in. To the relief of both, it finally passed through into the array of files hidden until that moment.

"Finally. Open a transmission to the Temple, there's a section ready to receive everything."

While Venu prepared the transmitter, he quickly sifted through the files now available to him. To his relief, the psychological report was first among them. A sign that they were on the right track.

"Transmitter aligned. Here's hoping they're too busy elsewhere to notice."

Utan nodded at that, setting the upload on all the files in question while continuing to browse. Further in came holographic recordings, all dated in succession, and marked only by acronyms that he couldn't discern the meaning of.

"This must be interview files with any captured members of the Hidden Hand, and anyone else involved in whatever transpired here."

After glancing over them a bit longer, he selected one at last. 'Molbe' was listed as the subject line. "If they interrupt the transmission, I think it best that we know exactly what this has been all about."

After another tedious pause, the hologram flickered on at last. Three people were displayed. Molbe as expected, bound to a chair by her hands, and quite obviously sobbing. The others…

"By the gods… We were wrong…"

" _Answer the question! Who planted the bomb?_ "

" _I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!_ "

Utan drew a sharp breath upon seeing the Togruta deliver a sharp punch to Molbe's stomach. It was unmistakably the face of Omena.

" _Two hundred and eighty four innocent people died in the space of ten minutes that day! Their blood is on your hands until you tell us who!_ "

" _I wasn't involved, I don't know anything-_ "

At that, the recording of Maarani kicked the chair out from under Molbe, and proceeded to bash her face in. Blow after blow after blow.

A fourth entered the display at that moment, barking orders in Ryl that made her stop at last.

This time, both Venu and Utan knew exactly what had been said. And while the former was too stricken with horror to repeat it, the latter felt he had to in order to dispel his disbelief.

"There's nothing more to be learned from her. Don't kill her, Blue Six…"

On cue, the three members of Blue Squadron left the room, leaving a badly hurt Molbe to sob for a while longer before the file ended altogether.

The air around Venu began to grow cold as she glared back at the files, her lips pulling away from her teeth to form a snarl.

"They extracted that segment from the rest, didn't they? They wanted my friends to see what would happen to them. What would happen when they dared to defy the almighty Republic!"

"Venu-"

Her hand went out to strike Utan clean from the seat. In an equally forceful response, he lifted his own to freeze her in position.

"We don't know the whole truth!"

"You let my padawan work alongside a barbaric soldier without any kind of supervision! What if she suddenly snapped and beat the everloving shit out of Carmen!? Like she did to Molbe!"

"We didn't know!"

Utan finally mustered the strength to push Venu away, his other hand now reaching for his lightsaber in a defensive gesture. Already he could sense the darkness starting to overwhelm her presence.

"Venu, following this incident, she was quite literally suicidal, unlike any of the others! I would say with certainty that being ordered to conduct this kind of illegal action broke her! And for the sake of all that is good, Jedi do not seek revenge!"

It took several moments for Venu to calm down. There was a small patch of ice at her feet that slowly melted away when she did. And even then, her voice still carried a bitter edge to it.

"When we get back, the Council better have a damn good reason for protecting her. Sith or not, my people would hang every last one of Blue Squadron out over this."

"Except the White Terror got to them first."

From beyond what normal hearing could perceive, they both heard the distant blare of sirens.

"It's starting. We need to go now, Molbe's waiting in the ship."

Utan nodded in agreement and looked back to the access panel. The transmission was just about complete anyway, and they had more than enough of the full holo-records to go on.

"Utan!"

"I'm coming." He hopped back down from the chair for the last time and followed on after. A single glance was all he gave Rinzaan before they reached the long ascent upward again.

Things had deteriorated further when they reached the surface. Fires had already broken out in the city below, casting the late evening sun in a menacing red haze. And worse still, there were security hovercars racing the mountainside towards them.

"For what it's worth Venu, I'm sorry it came to this…"

He turned around again only to find yet more weapons pointed at them both now. Some of the police force had already reached the plateau.

"We know you transmitted classified documents offworld! Surrender into custody!"

Venu's sleeves pulled back up her arms without any physical contact from herself.

"No."

A spray of lightning raced from her fingertips as she thrust them out, sending the enforcer line falling back to the ground. She grabbed onto Utan's arm and yanked him in the direction of the ship before he could protest again.

Molbe was waiting in the hatch for them both, quickly ducking out of the way when they bustled in.

"Someone already released files to the populace about the peacekeeping operation. That Republic soldiers were the ones behind people like me disappearing, torturing us for information."

Venu glanced to the cockpit briefly, then nodded with a pained expression. The moment was brief as she had to brace herself against Utan's hasty launch.

"We know. Blue Squadron was involved. And we're going to get justice for you and the others." She glared over her shoulder at Utan, who was currently occupied with dodging suppression fire from the surface. "Mirial should have refused the offer to rejoin the Republic. They've brought nothing to us but more blood."

For once, Utan had little argument to offer.

* * *

"The transmission was terminated shortly after receiving all files. As far as we know, the Mirialans won't have any record of an interception, and neither will the Jedi. We have everything they now have access to."

Seradan was still very silent. While the hologram didn't display what he was staring at, his posture made it all too clear that he was lost in contemplation.

" _My daughter, in the hands of a brutalist. Hands stained with Mirialan blood, touching her…_ " A small scoff followed as he finally turned around to look at Aruga and the others. A twisted smirk was present on his face. " _We now know why that musician was breaking into her quarters, don't we?_ "

Aruga slowly swallowed, trying to remain firm. "Our agents are being extracted from Mirial now, the planet is falling into anarchy. The Republic and the Jedi will be too busy to intervene if we make more advances on the _Distant Star_."

"No, not yet…"

Seradan let the moment sink in as he turned back to stare into the beyond. "Release these files to the galaxy. Make every single world in the Republic, the Empire, and neutral space see this. See her face. Many will not care, but those who do will demand that the Republic take control of its own soldiers. The Jedi will have to abandon or recall her. And we will demand Zariba's return if they do indeed return to Coruscant."

He reached up to his right lekku, scratching down the outside in a moment of thought. " _If they decide to run, hunt them down. And if the rescue party finds a scratch on my little girl…_ " A short breath came right before the glance over his shoulder. " _Send her head to the Jedi, and her body to the Senate. Without her hands. I want them to know that we are not a force to be trifled with._ "

"Of course. We will find her Seradan. The Hidden Hand prevails."

* * *

The trill of the computer station across the room woke Lina from her three hours of sleep in a state. She barely had time to pull a gown on before the computer opened up a holographic transmission anyway.

" _Linak'udur, please respond promptly._ "

With a confused tilt of her head she approached the computer, taking that moment to adjust her lekku. "If this is a night-time call to fix a droid it'll have to wait."

" _In this case it cannot. Records show you attempted to find information on a droid registry code identified as 'DCE'. Is that correct?_ "

She glanced away for a moment. Until that moment, she had effectively forgotten about the nanny droid as she had hoped to. And now she was getting a late hour call about it.

"Yeah, a unit called CC-13 walked in for some upgrades. I noticed a second memory core with that printed, found nothing about it and moved on.

" _I see. I'm afraid I must ask you to remain in your quarters until I arrive in person. Do not attempt to leave the station or tell anyone else about this matter._ "

"What? But I-"

" _Rest assured you are not in trouble, so long as you co-operate and do as instructed. In fact, I'd say that you are incredibly fortunate that your accidental discovery did not end with your evisceration. Good night._ "


	35. The Hard Truth About Legends

"Be-doo-zee-ba-ba-reep!"

The door to Maarani's quarters opened just as M2-P6 rolled past. Out stepped Maarani herself, who looked right at the droid and narrowed her eyes.

In the common room, Izan tossed another card into the pile, sighing as he looked over at Jayden, Cecile and Dana in order.

"I thought playing against a droid was lousy enough. Getting whooped by two Jedi who have never played before…"

Jayden shrugged a little as she drew her next card. "I have played before actually, and memorized the rules. It's a simple game to pass the time while out in the field as far as I'm concerned."

Dana was about to make her next move when the odd sight of Maarani pushing M2-P6 around flashed past one of the port connectors.

"At least she came out of her room. I'm starting to miss when she actually tried to behave like an adult."

A faint series of beeps and whistles echoed out from further down the core section, towards the cockpit. It soon passed over to the starboard corridor, then stopped.

At that, all three finally began to take note. Dana was the first on her feet, slowly making her way towards the pair beyond.

"What is she doing…"

The sound of the airlock being opened rang out to them over yet more beeping from M2-P6.

"Teegs!"

She bustled through the connector into the corridor just as the airlock closed. Before she could act further, the outer door had been opened, jettisoning M2-P6 into the void around them.

Izan and Jayden weren't behind, both fearful for a moment that the situation had been reversed. For all of a few seconds until Izan came to the obvious realization.

"We're on a limited credit supply, and you just shove a droid out the airlock? This is worse than when you decided to dump the old EVA suits weeks before we got new ones!"

All Maarani did was shrug in the most nonchalant way she could. "I hate droids that speak in Binary. The beeping annoys me to no end."

"Okay, but there's less drastic measures than-"

"I'm not done Izan."

Dana's arms instinctively folded as she felt bitterness starting to emanate from Maarani. She only barely acknowledged Jayden's decision to vacate the corridor at that moment, her concentration deep on keeping things under control.

"No-one consulted me about bringing another droid on board. I don't care about what you do with your money as far as equipment and supplies go. But this is my ship, and I don't appreciate others being brought on board behind my back!"

Normally, Izan would have done his best to shrug the matter off and go back to being mostly unfazed as he always was when an active threat wasn't about to kill him. This time however…

"It was Dana's idea. She wanted help with clearing up the ship. No need to chew our heads off about it…"

The sounds of conversation became known when the silence set in. Jayden was apparently conversing with someone at the holotable.

It was the opportunity Dana wanted to end the tension. "Get some rest, both of you. I think we've all been cooped up on ships or space stations for far too long. About time we find solid ground again."

Once she was gone, Maarani slipped past Izan on her way back to her quarters. Her cold mood was making him uncomfortable.

He wasn't going to be deterred this time, following not long after to the open doorway. "What's going on Maarani, really? Until now I've seen a lot of snappy mood swings. Now you're just stuck like this, which I'm guessing means something's gotten to you."

By then, Maarani had sprawled out on her bed, and could only manage a slightly head turn toward him without having to pull her lekku out from under her shoulders.

"Spilling my heart only to have it all shoved in my face kinda does that."

She sighed when he leaned against the doorframe in that familiar manner that said he wanted her to continue.

And so she did just that. "That bitch had the audacity to call me a deluded hypocrite to my face. I was talking about how my first girlfriend got taken by the Hutts, the second got blown out of the sky, and didn't even get around to the disaster that would have been number three before she got all high and mighty about this crap."

Izan gave a slow nod. It was a lot to make sense of, but based on the fact that Maarani was actually showing emotion again, it was a step in the right direction.

"Well, I'm here now if you want to get that last one off your chest. Unless Zariba is that third one…"

Maarani shook her head a bit, sighing again before pulling her lekku out at last to make herself comfortable. "We were hitting it off as friends. I thought we were getting closer, so I tried to kiss her. Next thing I know, she's calling seduction and wanting a transfer out of the squadron while I get a second hearing towards court martial. Because she's that sort of person…"

It took even longer for Izan to make sense of that. The behaviour was definitely erratic, and at first sounded like she was describing a latent schizophrenic. When it finally dawned on him, his face found its way to his hand with another deep sigh.

"All those times you made a big fuss about feeling up other women, it wasn't really to deter men at all…"

Maarani gave a little shrug, her lips pursed. "They can't stab you in the back if you keep them at arm's length from the start."

"Look, had I known why you really were being so-"

"It's fine." By then, her expression had softened back to a solemn one at long last. For a moment, there were even faint hints of her smile. "You've put up with my bullshit for so long now, without any reason to. And you care, which is more than I can say for most I've known. I kinda appreciate being prodded if it's genuinely because I'm acting out too much and nothing else."

Izan's own lips twitched upward a bit as he scratched at his beard briefly. "What else is there to say without repeating myself? You're an amazing, albeit crazy woman to be around. And I don't think I've ever met someone I've shared this kind of understanding with before."

"Let's not get sappy here. I'm happy having met a friend who isn't in this mess for anything other than helping someone out, and we can leave it at that."

"Fine by me…" Izan was already turning to leave when Dana clasped his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw a stern look on both her face and Jayden's too.

"Wait in the common room. We need to talk to Tegama alone."

"Uh oh, Dana's using my _real_ name. Must be important Jedi bullshit. As opposed to normal Jedi bullshit like the rest of the time."

The door was slammed shut by a forceful gesture made by Dana herself. Even Jayden looked visibly unnerved by the display, her arms folding up instinctively while the other Jedi approached Maarani.

"We just spoke with the High Council. Master Utan was on Mirial investigating a conspiracy that happened just a few months back."

Maarani's childish smirk faded away almost instantly.

"They say that they found things so disturbing that they didn't want to even speak about them until we talked to you directly. And that if you refused to talk, we were to head straight back to Coruscant and put you in front of the Council physically."

In keeping with her renewed attempts to restore the peace, Jayden stepped up after her. "Mirial is on a planetwide lockdown over this. The Jedi are preparing to move in and restore order since the military have failed to do that. Whatever happened, you have to trust us enough to tell the truth. Any little anonymous detail sent through the Council could save innocent lives."

After tightening her lips, Maarani slowly pushed herself up to sit on the bed, leaning forward slightly to stare at her jacket hanging on the other wall.

"Blue Squadron were specifically called in to do fly-by patrols by day as part of the peacekeeping operation by the military. By night, we were under orders from Republic Intelligence to beat the life out of any Mirialan suspected of collaborating with the Sith in search of intel. Plain and simple."

In the silence, Dana's heart faltered for a few moments, her jaw starting to hang limp.

Jayden breathed out slowly, one arm moving up to hold the bridge of her nose in disbelief.

"Should I get into the details? How we were told to start with shouting and slapping, move onto punching and kicking if they refused to give answers. Second sessions brought out the shock collars, damp cloths, beast prods. And after that, physical mutilation with IT-O droids providing assistance. And if they survived all that we shot their limbs off, one at a time…"

The sheer brutality of how calmly Maarani recited it all was too much for Dana, who immediately left the room with her hand over her mouth in shock.

For Jayden, the effect was also prevalent, but unlike Dana, she was not wrought with disgust. Instead, she waited for the door to close again before slowly taking a seat beside the now catatonic Twi'lek.

"That sounded very conditioned. Was that something Intelligence did to you, or has holding it in all that time broken the memories?"

Maarani shrugged once again, still unfazed as ever.

"Maarani, for what it's worth, you're not alone in this. I know Mandalore the Steadfast has done some nasty things since he took over from the Preserver, but I've kept my mouth shut in order to save the fragile alliance my people have with the Republic."

After the silence persisted, she leaned forward enough to see a tear rolling from Maarani's other eye. Not entirely blocked out to the weight of it all then.

"I bashed a woman's face in. Shocked a man until there were burn marks around his neck. Another couldn't walk from how mangled his feet had become."

In a chilling moment, she slowly twisted her head around to finally meet Jayden's gaze. There was a hint of red around her pupils.

"I tried to kill them. The others in Blue Squadron. We lost any kind of innocence on the first day, I wanted them all to suffer for making me hurt people like that."

Her head turned back around, settling on the jacket again. In that moment, she was back on Sarka in the compound, across the table from Koor, having just been told the fate of her squadmates.

"I got exactly what I wanted. They got what they deserved. And now I'm going to get what I deserve too."

At that moment, Jayden let out another breath, bringing a hand to rest on Maarani's shoulder.

"O'r ca'nara be akaan, shekemir gar kar'ta, bal akaanir ti ijaat."

A deep shudder wracked the Twi'lek, causing the tears to begin flowing freely. Her breaths became shorter, shuddering as the full emotional weight finally came crashing down on her.

"Ni skanah. Kyramud neverd."

When Maarani's own self-loathing came to bear, Jayden no longer felt contempt for her in the slightest. However poorly things had started out, this was the time that she was needed most for.

"For what it's worth, Omena got her's too."

She didn't expect any answer from Maarani, seeing as her face was now buried right against her arm, barely muffling the sobbing that was now coming freely from her.

"Cin vhetin, Tegama'Arani. Cin vhetin."

"Maarani, there's something-"

Izan stopped very abruptly at the doorway, nearly choking on his own surprise at seeing Jayden being a comforting presence to Maarani before shortly recovering. His usually bright skin had paled well before that though.

When Jayden looked to him directly, he swallowed down the choking sensation and straightened up. "Someone leaked holorecords and other files from Mirial to the entire galaxy. It's uh… not good."

"We've gathered as much…" Jayden looked to Maarani as she slowly freed herself from the tight hold, putting on her best face of support as she made her way back to the door. "Pull through this."

She followed Izan back to the holotable, where a recording of Omena, Maarani and a Mirialan was playing. The brutality of the beating issued was all too consistent with what had been described. A report in various languages was running in the meantime.

" _...several Senators have condemned both the Republic Military Forces and the Intelligence Bureau over the incident, calling for the surviving members of Blue Squadron and all others involved to face wartime tribunal for their conduct. Thus far, there has been no response to the demands…_ "

Jayden nearly broke the table in anger when she shut it off, not wanting to see the recording repeated yet again.

"Bloody politicians. Acting like they don't know this kind of activity goes on all the time…"

An already stunned Izan nearly stammered in disbelief at what Jayden said, the paleness now reversed into an angry rush of his own.

"All the time? For fucks sake this shouldn't be happening at all! This is the kind of atrocity I would expect from the Empire! Not the fucking Republic!"

"That's what happens when war drags on for too long…"

The cold admittance was all Dana could do to keep her own bitter feelings in line. The revelation had struck far too close to home for her personally. When she looked to Jayden and Izan in turn, that much was made obvious.

"We can't go back to Coruscant now. They'll destroy what little fragments of dignity she has left to claw back, especially if we try to keep her in Jedi custody. As far as I'm concerned, we're renegades from the Republic from this moment forward unless something changes."

"Oh great, so now we're going to be running from basically everyone now." Izan lifted his hand up to further demonstrate his point to them. "First it was the Sith. Then the HK-50's. Then the Hidden Hand. And then the Exchange, or more or less my mother specifically. And now we're going to be fleeing the Republic as well."

He looked to Jayden with great exasperation. "If I insult your mother, can we get the Mandalorians to hunt us down as well and complete the set?"

"Can we not bring back Maarani's bad sense of humour? Please?"

Despite Jayden's objection, the point was not lost on either Jedi. Jayden herself had to take a moment to try and gather her thoughts on the matter. Running from the Republic just wasn't a reality they could accept on top of everything else.

"Dana, when you're done with the Council, I'm going to ask Mandalore for help. I know he won't have moral objections, as bad as that sounds, but we simply can't become a direct enemy of the Senate. If we get Mandalorian asylum for Maarani, outside the technical authority of the Republic, that should buy us time to sort this mess out. She doesn't deserve what's coming after the breakdown I saw in there."

"Fine. In the meantime I think we need to keep watch on her." Dana chewed on her lower lip for a moment as the subject in mind approached. She didn't particularly like the thought of bringing it up, but it was still necessary. "Let's keep all weapons away from her while we're at it…"

"Way to lift the mood." Izan scratched at his beard again, then shrugged. "Guess I'm taking first watch, see if I can get her to settle down with some card games. Anything else?"

Dana looked to Jayden, then turned around to the holotable. "Be gentle. I'm getting the distinct feeling there's a nasty reason why she never told anyone about this. That's what I'm most worried about."

"Ask her nicely, got it."

Yet again he made his way down the corridor, this time with Jayden behind him right up until he was at the threshold of Maarani's quarters again. She was now lying on her side in a huddle, mangling the thin blanket while she stared across at her flight jacket unwaveringly.

"Maar…" Izan was already cringing at his own attempt at a nickname before there was even time for a reaction. "Teegs, we're all staying with you on this, whatever happens. Jayden's got a plan in mind."

With no answer from her, he cautiously entered the room and approached her, biting his lip in a very nervous way. Now he understood fully just how unpleasant it was to bring up the subject himself.

"Teegs, we need you to hand over both blasters and your vibroknife, just for a while."

It finally drew a reaction out of her, just one of mild surprise, there was no resentment to be found.

"Koor didn't take it away."

Jayden left the doorway at that moment to stand beside Izan. "With due respect to Master Koor, she doesn't have nearly as much experience as Dana in this matter. We just don't want the impulse getting in your head."

By then, Izan had retrieved the holdout blaster from behind her boots at the foot of the bed, which he passed to Jayden promptly.

After slotting it into a clip on her arm, she glanced around for the others once Maarani pointed them out. With them in hand, she backed away to the door at last.

"You know where to find me Izan."

"That I do." He waited for her to leave before taking a seat on the bed again, staring at the jacket that Maarani had gone back to gazing at. "It's still a nice piece, y'know. Good quality, suits you well…"

He clasped at his jaw in a vain effort to spare himself some of the painful awkwardness. "Look, there's only so much I can do as far as the pep talks go, and I don't know what else to say."

Again, there was no reaction or response from her.

"Dana suspects that there's something keeping you quiet. I really didn't want to believe it, but would I be wrong in guessing that there's some sort of blackmail involved?"

The sudden laugh from Maarani unnerved him even more than the stare did. She certainly was going through the array of emotions over it all.

"They knew I believed there was nothing waiting for me outside the military life. No close relatives, no holdings. Maybe they knew the Jedi were ready to take me in, maybe they didn't." Once more she turned her head just enough to make eye contact, gazing at him with her blank stare.

"I would have been ruined if I said a single word out of line. Everything forfeit, labelled as a treasonist, a mentally damaged one at that. The whole game with Republic Intelligence is about knowing exactly how to hold every single person by their own throat, if they need to."

All Izan could do was give a solemn nod. "I think what you said still holds true, even now. I kept thinking the Republic was at least willing to do the right thing in the face of corruption everywhere. And then yet another hard truth came to light. I wonder if anyone will come out of this war intact."

"You suck at making me feel better."

"Well you don't care about pazaak, so my options are limited."

In the meantime, Jayden had returned to the communications room yet again, where Dana was still very much arguing her case with Sereti.

" _The situation here is bad enough without everyone making their own decisions on the matter without consultation. Quite frankly I don't care what you have planned. We're in this mess because none of this has been thought through to begin with._ "

"I don't care that you don't care, Sereti. The fact that I've been here long before you showed up as a bratty young woman questioning everything Meetra Surik laid out isn't helping my opinion right now. This is what we're doing, and unless you intended to come after us too…"

" _Dana, this is not the time for insults, or baiting. You know how dangerous she will become if things get worse. It's time we stop the meandering, sit down with her, and lay things out in full._ "

The glance from Dana to Jayden was defiant. Some time ago, such an act would have solely been for her own interests.

"Telling her the whole truth now would crush her. She needs time to heal from this crisis before we dump the next two on her as well. Jayden and I will ensure her protection for the time being, and when I feel she is ready for the truth I will give my share of it to her. The rest can come if we ever return to Coruscant."

For a few moments, Sereti's side was muted as she talked to others out of view, growing more stern by every second. Her voice took on a much firmer stance when it returned. " _We won't condone this behaviour under any circumstances. Don't become an enemy of the Jedi again._ "

Jayden's lips parted just a little, her gaze now fixated on Dana while she glared back at the hologram.

"Threats, Sereti? That's starting to sound very much like the old Jedi. How ironic…"

She shut off the line before things degraded further. A sharp pain to the side of her head caused her to wince and reach for the region briefly until it passed.

"Shouldn't psychologists have better diplomatic skills?"

Dana sighed as she began making her way out of the room. "She may have turned her back on the Luka Sene, but she still has their pig-headed nature. But, Koor, Torbut and some of the others might still be sympathetic enough for Teegs to keep the rest off our backs."

"Oh good, good…" Jayden's arms folded back up. "You might have just managed to split the Council. Again. I bet we'll hear Bastila screaming 'I told you so!' across the depths of space now, no matter where we go."

It was enough to make Dana stop in her departure, making a half turn back to the other Jedi. "Bastila is a bitch. And she lost all rights to complain when she broke the Order. And I'm done talking about this."

"I wouldn't call her a bitch personally. Difficult yes… But then it's been a long time since I trained with her."

Once again, Dana's hand went to her head in a pained moment. This time when she came out of it, she did so with an apologetic nature. "You and I have had vastly different encounters with them all. But now I really am done discussing this."

Just before she moved out of sight, Jayden smirked to herself. "Maybe she can complete the set in place of my kin."

After some adjustments, she had a clear signal right to Mandalore Prime. She left it hanging for at least a minute, weighing up all the factors in what she was about to do. Her autonomy granted by the Council only went so far, and while she had every right to consult with the leader of her people, it was still very much delving into Republic matters without approval.

For all of her annoyances to be found with Maarani, there was no denying what she truly felt to be the just action to take.

There was a notable delay before she was put through at last, most of which consisted of rattling off clearance codes and keywords. When the transmission finally opened to the familiar figure of Mandalore the Steadfast, she straightened herself up.

"Mand'alor, I assume you've seen the files circulating the galaxy by now. What I need to discuss is directly related to a member of Blue Squadron, more precisely, her safety."

Mandalore took the time to think, nodding to some other officials who soon left the display range.

" _We've been discussing this incident yes. As expected, the Republic have massively overreacted to the matter. The Jedi have refused to answer any questions I've asked of them, so far anyway…_ "

Jayden's lips rolled to the side a little. "The Jedi I've been working with decided to refuse a recall order from the Council. I doubt they'll be any more receptive to me at this time."

" _A shame, but no matter. I do still hold Blue Squadron in high regard for the sheer bravery they displayed in holding the line four years ago, and if this one in particular is fleeing the Republic, I'm sure arrangements can be made to keep her here without issue._ "

"That's helpful, but not entirely what I had in mind." She went over the cobbled plan one more time before finally coming out with it. "I just need the assurance that she's safe from arrest by the Republic so long as she's with me. Something that the Senate won't be able to bypass. I realize it's a large favour to ask…"

Mandalore hummed in thought again, even going so far as to lightly clasp the chin line of his helmet while he did so. " _I can't guarantee it will hold forever. Even if you were to induct her into Clan Mires, there are extradition treaties with the Republic that the Senate might just dig up if they're motivated to._ "

"In that case…"

She momentarily chewed her lip, glancing down the corridor. There was one more thing to try. Something that could pull just enough sway to hold everything off her indefinitely. But it meant asking one the hardest questions yet.

"I'll get her to make a statement on the matter. With any luck, that will shift the target off her through sympathy. And a show of support from yourself certainly wouldn't harm our interests. Where the Republic looks to lay blame, Mandalore looks to show justice."

" _Ironic, that was starting to sound rather more like the words of a Jedi. But no matter, I don't see any real loss for Mandalore if it backfires. They need us after all. Contact me again when she is ready to make that statement, I'll have arrangements made._ "

"My deepest gratitude, Mand'alor." She let the silence settle for a while after ending the transmission. The blind eye turned to her own people had finally become of use. So long as her efforts to build goodwill were going to be returned in kind anyway.

Yet again she returned to Maarani's quarters. From the look of it, she had calmed down a little more. And she was physically acknowledging her arrival.

"Am I now part of Clan Mires? Do I have to call you mom or something?"

"No…?" She took a moment to actually comprehend what would have led to that assumption, quickly giving up anyway. "I opted for a solution that wouldn't be so awkward." The hesitation in her voice didn't go unnoticed by any of the others. They were already expecting a less than ideal proposal, which didn't help her case by any amount.

After a settling sigh, she gripped her helmet up and nodded slightly. "You need to make a public statement on the matter, it'll be relayed via Mandalore to the galaxy. Expose Republic Intelligence, any officials, the lot. If you don't draw attention to yourself, people are more likely to see you as the victim in a big web, the Senate will back off those charges. I know what the kind of people who engage in this kind of operation are like. I can protect you here, and Mandalore the Steadfast will do the rest."

So lost in bewilderment was Maarani that Izan felt he had to ask the questions on her behalf. "I know something about these people too, inside Czerka mostly. Even with the information already leaked, they won't take kindly to being put right under the spotlight."

"I know, but I'd rather face spies who betray the ideals of the Republic over loyal soldiers sent to arrest one of their own on Senate orders. Either way it's going to look a lot worse if they find out we've still got a hostage."

Dana gave an exasperated groan from the doorway, her hand clutching at her head yet again. "I told you that we are letting her loose on the next planet once we're sure it's safe. You can stop reminding us."

Again, Jayden chose to ignore the snark in favour of maintaining the nature of cooperation they needed to uphold.

She moved to kneel down beside the bed when Maarani finally began to sit up in attention. "We're alike in a lot of ways. I go through personality shifts too as you've noticed. And when I'm hurt, it cuts deeper than most others. I also believe in doing what's best for myself in addition to the galaxy. The secret is no longer your burden to bear, time to reevaluate your life."

"Cin vhetin, like you said. Here I was thinking my midlife crisis would involve Twi'lek religious bullshit or some such, not Mandalorian ideology."

For the moment at least, she looked uncomfortably calm when she stood up and approached the doorway. Plenty of tears had been shed certainly, but there was an odd willingness on her part to go through with the plan that even Jayden hadn't anticipated.

When Dana made a point of not moving out of her way, she gave a small sigh and brought a hand to her hip. "What? You think I'm gonna lose it and swear to the galaxy about how I hate everything? In an hour or two I'm gonna start crying again anyway."

Dana gave a sigh of her own as she moved out of the way just barely, an arm reaching out to hold Maarani's shoulder once more.

"I realize you may not think it, but I understand what you're going through. The swings aren't going to stop anytime soon, but you won't be dealing with them alone. Make the most of the calm, alright?"

"I'm going to make the most of when you shut up with the supportive crap."

Over a disparaging sigh she shoved past to make her way to the communications room like everyone else had earlier.

She still had virtually no idea about what could be said. A statement, or a confession? Indictment? Rant? Glorified speech, plea for sympathy? Condemnation of the people, government and military she had taken an oath to defend.

When Jayden returned to that room, looking to prepare it for her, the decision had at last been made.

"What if the Senate are going to back down anyway? I could end up making all of this bullshit so much worse by speaking out."

Jayden had to take that moment to stand in contemplation. That was a possibility that would have deserved more consideration…

"It doesn't matter, Maarani. If things get shaken up by this, then we'll have to deal with it if it takes a bad direction. And if we can't, you're still welcome on Mandalore."

A small sigh came from Maarani, in which she slowly shrugged her shoulders and took a step back, waiting for the transmission to initialize.

"I don't want to become a Mandalorian. I want to become a Jedi, like my parents, my brothers. Why is the Force rejecting me in such an utterly fucked up way?"

Again it left Jayden in silence for no small amount of time, still very short for words. "Somehow, despite not having that much of a spiritual attunement with the Force, I'm getting the feeling that it's not the case at all here. Who knows, really? A lot of legendary Jedi in the past have gone through horrible trials to become who we remember them as."

It was of little comfort to Maarani as she stood patiently in range of the hologram scanner.

"I bet there's ten times as many who died during their trials. Or became Sith. Like Masaka."

She tensed up just a little when the projection of Mandalore the Steadfast reappeared before her. The last time she had seen him in person, she was a torn, twenty year old woman barely able to contain herself at the salute he gave to Tebahney.

" _Ah, the Twi'lek. Yes, it does seem obvious now. The Republic inspires a lot more blind loyalty the closer your homeworld gets to Coruscant from what I've observed. I assume you are prepared and ready then?_ "

Maarani made one last glance to Jayden before looking back to the table. "I make a crappy speech about how I've been so guilt-ridden and scared into silence about what happened on Mirial that public opinion goes from hating my guts to feeling sorry for me. And maybe I get through it without crying. That sum it up nicely enough, or do I have to repeat that in Mando'a."

" _Your commitment and directness is already more than enough to convince me. Hope that it is enough to sway the Republic equally so. In five seconds, you will be speaking to them, and everyone else._ "

After taking another deep breath, she straightened herself up, using the last few seconds to brush her lekku back in front of her shoulders in what she had once been told was an appropriate formality.

A soft beep from the table itself indicated for her to begin.

"Alright, to cut with the usual awkward crap, I'm gonna get right to the point. Republic pilot Tegama'Arani, assigned as Blue Squadron Six. Most of you will recognize me from that hologram that I hear has been going around. If you don't, good, because that's a shitty example of who I am."

It was hard for her to miss Jayden's face coming to rest against her fingers in dismay. She didn't let that faze her in the slightest.

"Every single member of Blue Squadron knew what we were doing was illegal. And so did Republic Intelligence, why else would they threaten all of us with blackmail and worse if we spoke out? If you want people to blame, they're still perfectly intact, not burned to ash for weeks now.

I've spent the past months feeling like absolute shit over what I did. Finding out my sister helped murder my family wasn't any help, nor was finding out over half of my squadmates were butchered ruthlessly in a single day, and nor was having to face the White Terror's blade in person. I think it's fair to say I've already suffered enough. Mirial and other worlds apparently disagree."

When Dana and Izan approached the doorway, she took a moment to breathe and collect herself back up. There was a lot of genuine bitterness coming to the surface.

"If you think what we did was comparable to the behaviour of the Empire, you're full of shit. The Empire murdered over a thousand Jedi, ranging from eight to twenty years of age on their return. On Sedratis, they wiped out entire villages and even three Jedi Masters just to screw the Republic out of a minor fuel source. And let's not forget just how brutal they were in bombing Lentilles just months ago. What we did under intimidation and threats doesn't come close to the savagery of the Empire. And fuck all of you for daring to make that comparison."

She had no regrets even after noticing Izan's reaction to that.

"I've spent eight years fighting to protect the Republic. If one incident is all it takes to become worse than the enemy, then why the fuck did I sign up in the first place? That's my question to the Senate. I'm beyond done with being the pawn in political bullshit."

She was about to close the transmission when another thought occurred to her.

"Oh, to whoever decided to leak those files, and I have a fair idea in mind about that, you're not going to scare me."

This time she did close it, only taking a much needed deep breath after the shock of it all wore off again. As it turned out, she was anything but pleading in her speech, and that was satisfying enough.

When she looked back to the others, it was with a cold satisfaction at finally getting most of the anger off her chest. Some yet remained.

"Now we wait for the Council to call again while I get smashed off my face by what little alcohol is left around here. And then go back to crying when my head works out what I'm supposed to feel."


	36. Thine Eyes are Pinned Shut

Sereti knew from the moment she left her meditative rest in the morning that one of the most unpleasant days of her time with the Jedi to date was upon her. Utan and Venu were scheduled to arrive at any moment. The last member of the Council that had to be there in person for the crucial meeting about to take place, and the last person in the entire Order she wanted to see anytime soon. What little she had learned about the incident on Mirial had left her with deep concerns indeed.

It seemed rather fitting that both Koor and Torbut were the first to make the ascent to the High Council room ahead of the others. Their arrival didn't give her cause to turn away from facing out over the urban landscape of Coruscant.

"Master Pala, I'll save you the trouble. I don't believe for a moment that Maarani was lying about anything in that statement she made. She needs our help now more than ever, not more condemnation."

"Maarani is not my biggest concern right now. Neither of you knew Dana before she went to Telos. I only know that much about her because I was there. Right now, she's exhibiting exactly the kind of behaviour that Surik warned the Council to watch for. That is what concerns me."

Koor looked to Torbut with her continued look of disapproval. He in turn cleared his throat and took a step towards Sereti.

"I don't think that changes the fact that we have a responsibility to Maarani after all she has been through. Allowing Elira to go alone with her was a mistake even before hindsight yes, but since then we have done little to rectify that."

Sereti turned her head a little.

"You refused to recall her when the threat of the HK-50 droids became apparent, and when she became entangled with deadly pirates, only to reverse on that because of problems with the Senate?"

"The Senate is not a factor in the recall order I gave. I told you that Dana is my main concern and I expect my answer to be sufficient."

This time it was Koor's turn to advance. While almost always composed, in the heat of the moment she was touching on frustration with the empty answers.

"You gave Dana permission to leave Coruscant, without bothering to inform us why she needed it in the first place. You trusted her with Maarani's wellbeing. What the hell changed this plan from being about allowing her to heal to settling a personal vendetta against a Jedi Master?"

At that, Sereti finally made a full turn, her extended gaze having noted the arrival of most other Council members. She had just a few seconds to settle the matter.

"We can't let her heal until we have that safeguard in place. I'm sorry to say that it has been a stalling tactic, nothing more."

The frustration faded from Koor, replaced only with a cold sense of betrayal. "Stalling tactic…?"

Sereti gestured her hand in a dismissive manner, her attention moving to the other Council members as she approached her seat. "We're done discussing it. There are other things that must be discussed-"

"No, we're not done actually."

Her interjection drew the attention of the others, and a disgruntled look from Sereti as evidenced by the movement of her mouth.

"Sit down Koor."

She shook Torbut's restraining hand off her shoulder. "This was never about letting Maarani recover her connection to the Force. What then? Why is ignoring the plight of a woman with a broken past worth betraying the oath we all took by Meetra Surik to never again ignore the pain of the innocent!?"

"The files from Mirial proved that she is far from innocent, actually…"

For the briefest moment, Koor felt herself tensing up. Her strong sense of control kept the matter from getting any worse, forcing her to turn away in the only show of defiance she could give.

Merena was quick to take her place as the questioning presence with only a single glance to Torbut first. "We are close to finalizing it. But Koor is right, we need to free her from the life she's been forced to live first. Sooner or later, that thread keeping her barely connected to the Force is going to strengthen, and if she finds out the truth from anyone else-"

"Oh, so there's more secrets being kept Sereti?" Koor's moment of calm was short lived as she twisted back around to rejoin the argument. "What you told Jayden and myself after rescuing Omena was only part of the truth? What happened to the unified Council concept? It certainly isn't becoming a reality at this rate!"

"I'm about ready to throw you off the Council if this keeps up Koor. Elira understood the stakes better than you did."

At that, Torbut moved past Merena to physically prevent Koor from trying to stare down Sereti any further. The nervousness he was experiencing was all too obvious for the other Council members to see, still uncertain as to what exactly was going on.

"I think postponing the meeting would be best. This whole incident is affecting us more than it should. We could all use time to properly calm down…"

In what seemed like the worst kind of irony, the doors opened to a fuming Mirialan, who strode right across the room and smashed Sereti clean in the nose with her fist.

"You bitch! My world is burning because of you!"

Torbut had to abandon his restraint of Koor to grab Venu and haul her away instead as she attempted to get a second strike in. Master Vulen was quick to assist while the others moved to help Sereti up.

Blood was running down her face, some having been smeared up into her previously pristine veil from where her nose had been crushed by the blow. In her own moment of anger, she tore both it and the hood from her face to glare right back at Venu with her eyeless expression, blonde strands of hair now dangling down over it.

"Your world is burning because Utan went behind my back! Because he didn't stop you from returning to the ways of the Sith!"

Venu struggled against the two men holding her back a few more times before finally relenting. The hints of crimson in her irises faded away at last.

"Sith keep secrets, Sith lie to everyone else! I want the truth!"

The doors opened yet again to four Temple guards, quick to move in and take custody of her from Torbut and Vulen. Against them, she knew not to try and struggle at all.

Sereti took that moment to wipe her face clean while approaching Venu. "You lost the right to ask that when you set all of this in motion. Perhaps in five years, when you've finally cooled off, I might reconsider."

Uncomfortable murmurings went around the others, save for Koor who once again raised her voice in a defiant manner.

"Is that what's waiting for Dana and Maarani when they come back? Getting hauled off to a null cell for daring to defy your will?"

In the midst of it all, it would have been easy for Sereti to lash out again with a damning remark. But, for once, Koor had made a very legitimate, and somewhat terrifying point to her.

She clutched at her nose again in a feeble attempt to cover the damage, and what she was really experiencing, as she shoved past the others on her way out. "Work the situation out amongst yourselves. I need to see a physician before I start choking on blood."

The murmuring rose to active discussion in her wake. She could make out a few words in the exchange while she waited at the turbolift.

When it finally arrived, and she stepped inside the brief moment of isolation, a choking, tearless sob forced its way up at last. Her free hand went against the wall for her head to rest against while she broke down altogether. In wanting desperately to protect the Jedi Order from threats within, she had very nearly broken it. Another weight to the burden that threatened to crush her with every passing day.

Glances were made at her as she quickly strode through the Temple grounds to the infirmary. It was very rare indeed for any Miraluka to walk in public without facial coverings, and this was the first time in her life that she had done so. The dried blood smeared across her fingers certainly wasn't making it any easier to ignore.

At the infirmary itself, she was greeted by one of the attending droids who immediately guided her to the surgical ward, where a surgical droid waiting in standby.

"Grand Master Pala! Goodness, what happened?"

Sereti sighed a little as she made her way over to the empty operating chair to settle down in. "I'd rather not discuss the cause. Where's Dr Xilubu?"

"On Mirial by now I expect, he left myself and the other droids here until a temporary replacement arrives." The surgical droid was very prompt in preparing both the tools for the apparent operation, and performing a cranial scan of Sereti at the same time. "There are a few skull fractures around the nasal cavity. Quite an impact indeed!"

"Just repair the damage. Doesn't have to look good, no-one will see my nose anytime soon again."

"Very well then."

Sereti took the opportunity to calm her mind at last, and reconsider all that had happened. She certainly should have been more diplomatic with Koor, and Dana for that matter. But then neither of them had to constantly worry about the future of the Republic as a whole, consider every single probability and outcome. Who to send into the dangerous situations that even Jedi weren't willing to volunteer for.

In her reflection, she allowed the anxiety to build again. A quick distraction was needed. "Sokoli Zatu's condition. Still comatose I take it?"

"Unfortunately so. Her lifesigns are still weak, and Dr Xilubu has consulted with many other physicians across the galaxy on how to proceed. He believes she is trying to wake, but simply cannot overcome the damage prolonged cryostasis has done to her body at this time. Perhaps with another Force healer-"

Sereti cried out in a fit of pain when a nose mold was applied to her face and flooded with kolto. Some of the loose items in the room shook for a few moments until she calmed down again.

"Apologies, Grand Master, I can provide more sedative if you require it."

"No… no I'll manage. Just secure it in place. And I'll need a blindfold in the meantime."

"Of course."

The pain continued in its intense state while a clasp was wrapped around the back of her head to hold the mold in place, followed shortly after by a second wrapping that went over her eyeflats comfortably.

"My photoreceptors tell me that the mold does not look very, uh… Dignified? If I might be so bold."

"Right now, I couldn't care less about what others think of my appearance. So long as I am not in danger I will carry on."

"Then I believe you can carry on, though I would advise against tilting your head to an extreme angle for the time being."

"Noted."

She took her time in getting up out of fear that the change in blood flow would aggravate the now throbbing pain. To her relief it actually subsided a bit when standing upright.

"Good day Grand Master Pala."

She left the surgery with a small gesture of her hand in appreciation. Her departure from the infirmary went without remark, as did her next walk to the dormitory. Only a few padawans she passed on the way spoke up with the obvious questions, which she brushed off with an appropriately impatient glare.

The glare faded again when she reached the door to Carmen's quarters. Only twice before in her time as Grand Master had she needed to have an uncomfortable discussion with a padawan. This was the first time that their master was still in fact alive, which made it all the worse to explain.

It was still the least gruelling matter she had to resolve in the near future, and thus the one she chose to settle first.

She chimed the door and had only a brief wait before it opened to the young padawan who was already looking concerned.

"Is this about Mirial? About what Maarani did there?"

Sereti's next breath wavered, her composure faltering a little more.

"She isn't the first thing we need to discuss. I think it best we take a walk outside for this."

The walk back through the dormitory to the nearest garden was even more solemn. A few words to the attending guards meant there would be time enough without interruption from others, something she knew wasn't going to set Carmen at ease.

At the fish pond she finally stopped, taking that last moment to maintain the calm.

"Your master returned to her old ways on Mirial, and is not showing any sign of regret at this time. It pains me to say that I'm removing her status as a Jedi Master indefinitely."

Carmen was completely lost for words at that moment. The last she had seen of Venu was of course a reassurance that she was to continue her studies and preparation for knighthood. She was very far indeed from what Sereti had just described to her.

"Is she okay? Maybe if I talked to her-"

"I'd rather you not for the time being." Sereti slowly turned back around, then sat down to be less imposing over the young woman. "It's too late to assign you to a new master. I think it is in your best interests to complete the Trials before speaking to Master Kasua. Her state of mind might be a distraction now, but she could make it far worse on yourself unintentionally. You shouldn't be dragged down by her failings."

"Yes but…" The sad realization came to Carmen that there was very little, if anything, she could say in protest. She was always told to be an uplifting example to the other upcoming padawans, and arguing with the Grand Master in a matter she had little ground to stand on was not going to set that kind of example at all.

One of the fish in the pond blew bubbles at her when she glanced there in search of any answer to her growing questions. It was of little help.

"What about Maarani then? I really can't believe that someone that friendly could do what the recording showed. She was nice, funny, just pleasant to work alongside."

"If you believe it's a fake, then I'm also sorry to say that's very far from the truth. We still don't know the exact circumstances, or why her behaviour is so extremely polar."

That was an outright lie, but the sheer weight that the truth carried left her with no other option than to avoid burdening Carmen with it as well. Fortunately for her, there was no sign her lie had been caught out.

"Is that why my master got so upset she turned to the dark side? She thought I was in danger around her?" Carmen's lip trembled in a moment of nervousness before she straightened up again. The example to follow, not to avoid. "Could you tell her I'm doing fine at least? Maybe that will calm her down. I really don't want to see her banished from the Order, please."

"I have no intention of banishing anyone. When things have settled I and others will attempt to help her recover, but ultimately the choice is hers alone."

Carmen nodded again solemnly, glancing to the pond again before looking back to Sereti. "Maarani isn't in trouble when she gets back, right? Revan did terrible things and got a second chance when he changed. She has, and she should."

"There's still a lot of discussion to be made on the matter, discussion with her in person particularly. It's simply not my place alone to decide what her future with the Jedi is going to be, if she has one at all."

She slowly rose up from the bench with a sigh, looking to Carmen one last time. "I want to see you do well in the Trials. You're one of the few non-Force sensitives to make it this far in the entire Order. We're all proud of you, your determination, and your integrity. Never lose sight of that."

Again, Carmen felt her lip trembling from the mixed feelings she was experiencing. And somehow, the most irrelevant of questions came to mind. "Who's going to apply my next set of tattoos?"

Sereti didn't answer that last question with anything more than a shrug when she finally left the garden behind.

There was only one place she felt was left for her to go, below the Central Spire itself. The only place left in the entire Temple that she could still find solace in.

It didn't take long to sense that she wasn't actually alone. Bothersome as that sensation was, she tried to ignore it sound of the artificial waterfall cascading down the mountainside, splashing around the varied ferns that had been cultivated onto the rock itself was what she wanted to lose herself in most.

She nearly lost that moment when it was Utan who approached from the walkaround. Yet another conversation she didn't want to have, more because she had serious doubts about her own self control in regards to his actions.

"Please, go away."

Utan very nearly did just that. He had only heard that Sereti had left the High Council chamber with a bloody nose right after Venu had been escorted out by guards, and the conclusion was very easy to reach. The decision to not go with her had clearly been the right one as far as further aggravation went. But it wasn't making the apology any easier.

"What is there for me to say, that has not already been said? How about; 'you can't bear the burden of every decision'."

Sereti gripped the railing a lot tighter, trying very hard indeed to keep from getting upset. "I can't do this. Six years, six years as Grand Master and I'm at wit's end. It's too much."

There was growing despair for Utan, his approach slow, looking only to provide what comfort he could.

"I know you believe you are the only one capable of leading the Council. But that belief is going to crush you if this persists."

"Bastila won't come back, even if I begged her to."

"That's her choice. We may have lost many good friends, but there are still others who can fulfil the role. None of us want to see you broken like this."

The next breath Sereti too shuddered as she once again looked to find her centre of peace. "Those on the Council are there because their specific talents are vital to their work, whether they were chosen by Surik, Visas or myself. I can't put any one of them in my place without a cascade breakdown of the Order's function."

"Then you must find another outside the hierarchy who remains loyal to us, and still lives. Quite simple actually."

"It's the simple things we all forget."

Her hands finally relaxed, and fell away from the railing altogether. "I really didn't appreciate you taking matters into your own hands while I was away. But, I can't deny that I needed the wake-up call." She finally turned her head down to him, lips tightening up into a solemn line. "Tell Merena that the agreement of silence stands until Maarani returns. They can all learn the truth together."

She left the walkaround after a nod from Utan. The Archives was her last destination before the inevitable return to the High Council room. The last person left that she felt comfortable consulting with in such a dire situation.

The fact that a small group of initiates passed by on her way in seemed to indicate that Atris was already aware of her arrival, and that she was intent on a private conversation.

"I wonder which of us sounds worse. My rasp while I slowly choke on my own failing body, or your nasally crushed pitch."

Atris herself had taken a seat by one of the computer consoles. She gestured with the head of her cane to a nearby seat for Sereti to take.

"Before you ask, one of the padawans was considerate enough to 'warn' me of your arrival. Nothing has changed." Her eyes only moved when Sereti was close enough for her to see clearly. There was still something to be said of her vision yet. "When you sent me a young Twi'lek woman with a nanny droid and an old apprentice of mine in tow, I can't say I expected an outcome like this."

Sereti's head went to her resting hand in search of ease from the growing headache. "It was a damn mistake on my head to send her. I should have known better, which is exactly the problem I have now."

"I've resigned myself to this fate, if that's what you mean. There's no point in pretending I deserve any better after what I've done."

"You know that's not what I meant…"

At that, Atris gave a surprisingly firm stamp with her cane. "You're right I damn well know! Seeing you reduced to this state hurts more than this contraption strapped to my heart ever will! Whatever our differences have been, I don't intend to die seeing the Order fall to pieces like this!"

Her rant was cut short by a beep that came from the aforementioned implant maintaining her heart. Sereti brought her head up in a moment of concern that was quickly waved away between rasping breaths.

The recovery was short, but the point had been made to Atris herself that calm was necessary. "Someone has led the initiates to believe it's a warning that I'm about to take the form of a wampa."

"A wampa? That's a bit…"

"Specific? I can think of worse things to be called."

Sereti shook her head to banish whatever imaginings were about to be conjured. "While I appreciate your intent, I can't put this off any longer. I need your help in selecting candidates to replace me. You're the first of the few I can ask this of."

"I suppose I should be flattered. But then there's nothing to be gained in that anymore. Assuming you've disregarded the immediate others for whatever reason, I think you're forgetting the obvious answer. I'm not sure how she'd feel about that fact. Best keep it to yourself I think."

After pausing for thought, Sereti sighed again in disbelief at her own forgetfulness. It really was rather terrible of her to forget in the first place.

"She's still on Ilum. I think it's about time someone else take up stewardship there."

"Perhaps it will be a two-way swap… We'll have to see."

Her return to the High Council chamber was swift. There was no shortage of relief on her part that the rest had settled into much calmer discussion in her absence. Discussion that stopped immediately upon her return, all looking to her at last.

With one more breath for reassurance, she stepped forward into the circle facing her. "I won't hide behind words anymore. There are secrets that I will only divulge to all when Maarani returns, it is her right to hear them. Until then, I'm stepping down as Grand Master."

The expected murmuring went around, save for Koor and Torbut who looked particularly concerned. Utan watched in silence from his own seat.

"I realize there might not be a worse time for this change, but waiting for a better one is not worth the further chaos. And, as far as choosing a suitable replacement goes, I have someone in consideration already…"

She gestured her hand at the room's holocommunicator, taking note of how quiet everyone had become by then. After a small delay, it connected through the relays to Ilum. Shortly after that, a woman in white stepped into view.

"Brianna, I realize this is on very short notice, but things have sadly worsened, and the Jedi need a more capable leader."

" _You are not wrong in this being extremely unexpected._ " Brianna had taken that moment to straighten her robes out while she looked around her end of the holograms, noting each of the Council members and what she could make of their stance. " _I haven't wished for a change of scenery, or relief from this duty. But, if things are as you say they are-_ "

"One of our more respected Masters fell to the dark side within a matter of days. We are barely keeping up with war efforts. This was never my speciality, and as much as I hate to ask someone else to take the burden, I have no choice left."

Brianna nodded to each point with a small hum. It certainly did sound dire, and from her continued observation, virtually everyone else on the Council seemed to concur with Sereti's sentiment.

" _You know I never would have asked for that responsibility out of respect to the judgement of others. If this is the necessary course of action, I will return, and do what I can. Just keep in mind that I'll need time to catch up on the entirety of matters._ "

"So long as the Sith continue their ceasefire we have time. Now I think it would be best if further discussion waits until your arrival."

" _I will make haste. Force be with you all._ "

Sereti didn't let the silence after the call ended last long at all, turning to each and every one of the other Council members.

"I am not insisting that you accept her as Grand Master. It is a simple fact that she is closer to Surik's teachings than I could ever hope to be. And it is long overdue I realized that. I should never have taken the position up from Visas."

Not unsurprisingly, Koor was the first to speak up when the reality set in. "If you're doing this because of Mirial…"

Only a small gesture was needed to dispel that line of thought.

"It's been a long time coming, I very nearly broke down at the thought of losing Jayden, and Mandalorian support along with her. I'm not cut out for wartime leadership."

Her hands clasped together slowly. Even with days to go before Brianna's arrival, she no longer felt like she deserved to sit in the chair amongst them.

"I'd appreciate it if you informed Dana of the change. Apologising to her is something I would much rather do face to face."


	37. Passing Through the Void

There was a world of difference between the EVA suit the _Distant Star_ came with, and the ones Dana had procured. Beyond the obvious fact that she had a much easier time climbing up and down the access ladder a few times, there was no longer a sense of dread at how vulnerable she really was out in the expanse surrounding the ship.

Far across the port side was a shimmering nebula, the only thing to stand out amongst the endless stars and darkness. Otherwise perfect isolation, in all the peace and terror it brought.

"Check mag cohesion."

" _Cohesion registering at 93% stability._ "

Maarani nodded a little, lifting her right foot up, then planting it back down again to be absolutely certain that the seal would hold. The magnetic thump as her boot clamped back to the hull felt satisfying indeed.

"Alright, so far so good."

She took the opportunity to test the suit's flexibility by turning towards Cecile further up the hull. It felt rather similar to movement in a high inertia flight suit, something she wasn't fond of but could at least tolerate.

"CC, you getting this?"

" _Yes Mistress! The transceiver is-!_ "

"Lower your volume! Agh!" She clutched at the sides of her helmet in a very pointless attempt to muffle out the sound. The extra movement caused her lekku to sway and bounce around in all directions that left her feeling even more disorientated.

" _Is this better, Mistress?_ "

"Stop calling me Mistress!"

" _Is this better, angry blue woman who is my owner?_ "

"Yes!"

" _Could you, angry blue woman who is my owner, turn your own volume down?_ "

Maarani shut off the transceiver at that, making another obscene gesture to get her point across visually.

"Damn lucky I don't throw you off to join M2…"

When the anger subsided, she took a breath and reached for the suit controls on her left wrist. After some tinkering, her boots disconnected from the ship. A slight push was all she needed to put distance between herself and the hull, with a jet boost afterwards effectively halting her there.

Once the anxiety from her previous experience passed, she closed her eyes and reached both hands back down to the ship.

"Just a matter of breaking the block. Simple. The right kind of motivation, like a jack-knife turn, shooting a Sith Lord in the back of the head…"

For a moment, she saw a glimmer of red light passing through her fingertips.

"Or, the absolute terror of drifting off into space with no hope of rescue… Not that that's a problem anymore…"

Her fingertips began to clench up in growing frustration. She hadn't moved even a tiny bit back towards the ship. Nothing to indicate she was touching the powers that had once come without concentration.

"It's fine Maarani. You're never going to get your connection to the Force back. Insane people don't get nice things in life. You're already talking to yourself, not long now…"

The red light returned, though this time it was with growing intensity. No longer just a flicker from the nearby nebula.

She dropped back down to the hull with another tiny burst. The moments in which she had to wait for the magnetic seal to reactivate were agonizing when there was quite possibly a weapon discharge coming right for them.

What she saw when finally able to turn around only brought confusion. Where there had been empty space was now a red giant, and one that had a particularly menacing look to it. Her fingertips also suddenly felt very cold.

"What the hell…"

"That's no way to greet your sister."

Maarani whipped back around on an impulse that also made her reach for her blaster, having momentarily forgotten that it was still back on the ship.

The mangled face of Masaka left her trembling too much to be any good a shot anyway. She looked downright freakish with the lekku missing, and the mass scarring that had persisted from their last encounter looked freshly gored in the red glow.

"Let me guess, you're asking yourself how I got here, how I'm talking to you while in the vacuum of space?" Masaka took that moment to check her nails. "I'm not holding it against you, you always were a stupid schutta-pig. Felt up any other sluts lately?"

Maarani had used her own time to run through the possibilities. Cecile had conveniently vanished from view, and a quick burst of the beacon signal in the suit had done nothing. That and the details Masaka herself had brought up made the whole matter rather obvious.

"You're in my head now too? Tell Kiarna to fuck off in person for me."

"Ooch, some comeback you've got there sis."

"We're not sisters." Now that the confusion had passed, she was far more confident in her own stance, and it showed. "I'm really not in the mood for sibling rivalry crap. Sooner or later I'm going to kill you, and that's the end of it."

Masaka took a few steps across the hull towards her. The amber glow in her eyes grew in intensity as the distance closed.

"Funny you say that. I was about to offer a deal that would leave you alive, as a slave no less, but free to feel up all the tits you want in a corner of the galaxy where I never have to see you again." With a wicked smirk she held her chin to tap along her cheek in a thoughtful way. "But now I'm having second thoughts, oh dear."

"Here's my deal. Apologize for killing the rest of my family, all those Jedi including Elira, and for being a bigot about my sexuality, and maybe I'll consider going right for the neck. If you haven't already seen, I'm not squeamish about drawing things out."

"Ha! That pathetic apology for equally pathetic behaviour amused me for all of a few seconds. But you pretending like that means anything to me is so much funnier."

Maarani sighed, her hand reaching up to her helmet in yet another pointless gesture. "I'm really not in the mood. Cut the crap and tell me what you want so I can say no and you leave."

"It really is amazing to see just how much of a meathead the military life has transformed you into. Meanwhile there's not much meat left on my head, so it balances out."

"Kindly fuck off."

"Why bother with insults if you don't even try with them?" Masaka gave an exasperated sigh, closing the gap between them with just a few steps. "Answer me this, sister. Why does Darth Lasidia fear you?"

That made Maarani pause. It was about as far from the question she expected as it could possibly get. It also provided her with yet another way to drive away her hated sibling.

"You said yourself, I like touching tits. That must have her quaking in her boots. Sounds like you have subdued feelings about the matter too."

Masaka began stepping back from her at last. Her form merely dissipated into the void around them, accompanied by the fading of the red light.

"Tribal Togruta don't wear boots, idiot. But that gives me an idea on what to cut off first with you..."

A sharp pain shot through Maarani's head. She reached up to it yet again, only to find her hand bumping against the arm of someone holding her shoulder.

"Maarani! What happened!?"

"Masaka…"

The haze in her vision passed enough for her to make out Dana's face through the visor. Cecile was nowhere to be seen, probably having gone back inside for help.

"Masaka? Did she hurt you in some way?"

"No, she…"

Maarani began shaking her head, feeling confused. The memory was slipping away despite having just happened. At the last moment she held onto it again. The full realization made her latch onto Dana's arms.

"She's coming! She saw the stars here, she knows where we are!"

Dana took just as long to hit the same realization.

"Oh fuck."

"That's really reassuring Dana! The Jedi meant to protect me is shitting herself over this!"

"Well stop swearing and get us out of here already!"

"You swore first!"

"Not the time!"

The argument continued even after both took their helmets off in the rush to the cockpit. More than enough to alert Izan and Jayden that there was more than just another of Maarani's mental blackouts to worry about.

"I think the threat of being hunted by my bloodthirsty not-sister gives me an excuse to swear!"

"All it does is set everyone else off which means they're distracted which means we're in trouble! And a life-or-death situation is exactly when we don't need distractions!"

"What the hell are you two talking about?"

Maarani took that much needed breath while setting the calculations for their next jump.

"Didn't I ever tell you about 'My Sister the Insane Sith Lord'?"

"You mentioned something about that and a woman named Elira I think…"

"She moved so fast that her swing went right through Elira's lightsaber, and her neck. And now, despite having her lekku cut off, she still found a way to track me!"

The ship began turning towards the chosen vector, bringing the nearby nebula into view for a few seconds.

Izan moved to the seat behind Maarani while Jayden took the opposite. Neither wanted to be standing for the _Distant Star's_ typically sharp jumps.

"Small world huh? You've had a run in with _the_ most wanted woman in the galaxy, and your sister is right near the top of that list. How many more people are going to hunt us down before someone actually gets us then?"

Jayden gripped onto his chair to gain his attention. "Speed isn't everything. It may give a large advantage, but there are ways to beat it."

That made Dana scoff.

"Speaking from experience Jayden? Remind me which of us Jedi is the one with the poor perception of danger."

Jayden's teeth clenched down to the point of pain in her jaw, hand clenched around the line that bordered what remained of her hip and the artificial leg.

"You used to be far more considerate, Dana. Now you're coming in with the underhanded insults…"

"Everyone shut up!" Maarani waited for the others to do just that before activating the hyperdrive. The expected jolt was brief, which she tried to take as a good sign for once.

The sigh that followed her relaxation accompanied her slow turn to face the others. "I need time to work out a good hiding place, at least for a little while." Her glances briefly focused on Jayden specifically. "I don't think we should let Zariba loose just yet. She'll have to wait for a mid rim world."

Jayden sighed herself, this time with a hint of defeat. "I'm not going to argue that Masaka's involvement doesn't change things. Just please take the opportunity to settle things with Seradan when it comes."

After smiling in a clearly disdainful way, Maarani got up from her seat and tapped Izan's shoulder. "Keep an eye on things, drop us out if it throws up an alarm before we hit the hyperspace lane. I need to get changed."

By the time he was in the pilot's seat, both Maarani and Jayden had left the cockpit. Dana showed no sign of intent to leave, and that concerned him.

"I know I've made cracks about you being Coldheart, but that just there was really uncalled for."

"She got over it weeks ago; the only thing bothering her now is marital issues that she won't open up to me about. That was to make it clear that Masaka is not someone we assume we're ready for."

While not the most diplomatic answer, there was little objection Izan could offer. "And here I was thinking that being an only child was the worst way to be brought up. Having an evil sister is something else, that's for sure."

"Teegs spent a lot more time with Masaka than her older brothers. And betrayal hurts a lot more than loss."

Izan took his turn to sigh, the chair groaning a little while he leaned back in it. "Maybe having no-one to really care about isn't so bad after all."

Dana twisted her lips to the left.

"Not saying I don't care. Just… Maybe she was right about keeping people at arm's length so they can't stab you in the back or however it went."

That earned a concern frown from the Jedi. After putting the thought aside, she finally left her chair to make her way back to her quarters.

"She certainly wasn't keeping Zariba at arm's length before. Maybe she'll be a little more open when she's had time to calm down."

* * *

Culligan was reclined quite significantly into his seat when the feeling of dread struck with great force. The resulting chill nearly made him fall to the floor, but it did also alert him to the observation screen ahead of him.

Masaka had left her handstand position. The sole camera able to capture her face while she stared at the door gave him a glimpse into the look of malice she had suddenly taken on.

His hand fumbled for the alert switch.

"Corporal Culligan reporting! The Twi'lek's doing something!"

" _Something? Be specific man!_ "

"I…" He glanced at the intercom for an instant. When he looked back to the screen, she was very much gone.

Just as abruptly, a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He very nearly passed out in terror.

"Shh, don't ruin the surprise."

Masaka's hand tightened into a grip while she leaned past him to open the security lockouts. The secondary alert went off immediately as expected.

A fierce grin spread her lips as she leaned back. The raw fear was feeding right into her darkness, she couldn't help but fuel it further by planting a chilling kiss on his cheek.

"Doesn't look like I'll be visiting your bunk in the night after all. Not to rip your intestines out and chew on your eyeballs mind you. I still have needs after all. You just had to ask."

She was gone in the next instant. Tiny shards of ice danced around on his shoulders in her wake, a few more falling from the opened weapon locker. A vibrosword and some explosives had been taken.

" _Culligan! Report! Damnit man! Report!_ "

* * *

"Report!"

Morgak twisted his head to the doorway as both Silent and Rak'Sakar entered the command deck. There was no time to be wasted.

"Masaka may have just killed one of my men! You assured me that she was under control!"

While Silent was caught by surprise, there was a very suspect calmness to Rak'Sakar's voice when he replied.

"She was going to attempt escape sooner or later, I'm surprised it took this long."

" _General! Culligan here! She's taken a sword, explosives. There's blood on every wall, bits of people! Oh fuck!_ "

Just as quickly, Morgak was back at the console. "Stay at your post Culligan! Don't follow her!" He switched over to the ship wide channel before even receiving an acknowledgement. "General Morgak to all hands! Troopers and officers are to fall back to secure zones immediately! Do not engage the Twi'lek!"

Silent was soon leaning over the console beside him to access ship schematics. "Have droids perform constant sweeps of all corridors, active signal monitoring." He gestured to a few key locations, then stopped when he noted one of the landing bays.

Instinct was drawing him there specifically. "I need a location on Varga while you're at it. Start with the landing bays. I'll deal with Masaka directly."

"Fine. I expect she will finally be put down after this."

Silent glanced at Morgak for a moment, feeling doubtful. "That's not up to me…" He looked over his shoulder expecting to get an answer from Rak'Sakar. He was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

When the lockdown went into effect, the entire squad of Sith troopers felt the impending doom approaching their position. The orders had been clear about staying well out of the way, but that was now no longer an option.

"Defensive positions! Avoid concentrated fire, prioritize arms and legs, minimize the shots she can deflect!"

A brief clatter of weapons being readied followed, then near silence. Only the repeating alarm remained.

Eight troopers, all poised to attack at the first sight of a blur coming towards them.

There was a flicker of panic at the sound of approaching footsteps. The metallic sound definitive of a droid soon became clear.

"Patrol droid. Let it route back, give us extra warning."

The temperature began to drop at that moment. A slow descent that matched a little too well to the approaching sound. Some of the troopers began displaying signs of nervousness, fidgeting in how they held their weapons, breathing a little harder…

"Steady, no harm in destroying the droid if this is a trick. Don't hold back."

A few began to shiver from the now chilling ambient that was permeating their armour. At any moment, they were either going to have a dead Twi'lek, or the rush of death in front of them.

The droid came around the corner, preceded briefly by the glare of its scanning eyes. Upon scanning the formation ahead, it beeped a few times and came to a standstill.

"So, how long until it routes back…?"

"Give it a few more seconds-"

The squad leader froze in both ways. A hand had come to rest on his shoulder, colder than the ice sheets of Nelvaan.

"It stopped because it found me…"

What followed was brief, all captured by the droid once it had begun relaying a visual feed to the bridge. Every single dismemberment, and subsequent decapitation. The few blaster shots that went off, one of which found its mark in Masaka's gut. Pained death cries that came from those she hadn't killed immediately. Her departure from the massacre scene without so much as a limp from her wound.

Masaka herself was still quite calm on her dash towards the landing bay. The wound was nothing more than a mind inconvenience she would have to deal with eventually. Her body was effectively dead without the Force, or her lekku to keep it going after all.

Her arrival at the landing bay itself brought with it a small shower of ice shards, and a snicker from herself upon seeing Varga in the cockpit. The need for blood had been well sated indeed, and the rest of her remaining needs were within arm's reach.

"Oh, if only Lasidia were here to see the epitome of her incompetence…"

Before taking the first step towards the ship in her dash, she gestured to some of the other vessels around her. Caught in the drawn out instant of her perception, they were set to wreak utter havoc around the rest of the landing bay while she escaped. The pursuit would be much harder for Rak'Sakar to co-ordinate.

A twinge went through the stump on the right side of her head. Her left foot landed the first step.

The twinge came again when her right foot came down. Her speed meant the sprint would have her on the ship within a fraction of perceivable time.

Her left foot rose again. The twinge finally caught her attention as a sense of danger.

Her head turned to the right. A dark blur rushed from a nearby corridor in that next second, ending with a scaled hand grabbing her by the throat and throwing her down to the floor.

The ships she had scattered were still very slowly moving towards their impact zones. The distortion of reality was being maintained by the sole other capable of such a feat.

 _Why wait this long, Masaka? What changed? Speak!_

At first, she merely smirked. Hearing Rak'Sakar's voice in her head amused her. They couldn't actually speak to each other verbally obviously, as the soundwaves would take far too long to travel between them. The fact that he was bowing to necessity amused her nonetheless.

 _My sister is falling in with Mandalore the Steadfast, which means we have a mutual enemy to deal with._

The response was his clawed foot clasping around her neck, which she scoffed at more. She had learnt from her previous experience, whereas he was clearly still holding back.

 _Got your interest, lizard? Lasidia isn't around to keep you leashed. I do wonder why she's been holding you back from revenge all this time…_

The grip around her neck tightened as she was met with a snarl. Her composure remained calm.

 _I don't need yet another complication out in the galaxy! Respect the agreement, or die here and now!_

She felt her throat beginning to cave inward. A little harder, and it was possible she'd suffer damage that even her full power couldn't undo. And yet, she still managed to laugh.

 _You're not looking to kill me. Lasidia failed, Kiarna failed; I'm the only one who can give you what you want now._

Her hand clenched at his ankle in a last ditch effort to free herself from his hold.

 _Let me go get my lekku, kill my sister, and find the rest of the holocrons. I'll give you Mandalore, and I certainly won't try to put bombs in your gut when we next meet._

She felt the claws driving into her neck for a few moments for a second time, before his foot finally withdrew altogether. She had won.

Rak'Sakar held the moment for a while longer, contemplating the decision just made at length. The resulting chaos that erupted when he finally did release the moment summed up the consequences quite aptly. There was no way to hold Masaka indefinitely, she had no intention of divulging anything more about the superweapon, and killing her would make no real difference in the end.

She was right after all. The future Empress, and her mentor had both failed their duty. How could he possibly do any worse?

* * *

"Doing alright?"

Maarani gave a nonchalant gesture in response. She barely flinched when Jayden sank into the seat to her right.

"I wish I could say we know what you're going through. But unless Dana's got some distant sibling, you really are the only one here who isn't an only child." She couldn't help but take notice of the slow stare it drew. "I'm still trying to patch things up here. Usually the people I do this with are Imperial spies, agents working for the Hutts, and the occasional sack of lies and deception we refer to as Senators."

"Oh ha ha. Quit the life of a Jedi to become a comedian already."

Jayden smiled, albeit in a forced way. "At least the sarcasm has come back. "

"And that's a good thing now? I have a distinct memory of having to be super careful about what I said around you when we first met!"

"Did you? All I remember is being surprised by the tattoos and getting the impression Dana didn't like my attitude."

Maarani pursed her lips. In retrospect, a lot of what led to that encounter came from Dana's observations. And despite being a professional…

"She has been acting weird since you arrived, being honest. Back on Coruscant, she was real nice and considerate, and even while we were hiding out on _Twa'janii_ she got me through a real bad phase. Maybe she's got something against Mandalorians?"

"Hardly the first I've met to think that way." Jayden sighed, her gloves slowly coming off while she stared ahead into the currently empty kitchen. "Truth be told I barely knew anything about her before we met in person. She made it clear she has nothing nice to say about Master Shan, given how she looks I'm surprised she was around to know her that well."

"Apparently she's well over sixty years old. The most I got is that she's not human, beats me what offshoot she comes from."

"Who knows? Twi'lek are a distant offshoot of humans after all, anything is possible."

Maarani's head slowly looked up to Jayden's. The thought of them being extremely distant relatives had suddenly left her feeling unsettled.

"How did we go from attitude problems to the history of divergent evolution?"

A small shrug was all Jayden could give. It was the first time they were conversing without a crisis to be resolved after all.

"That's just how conversations go, rather much like journeys, or soul searching."

At that, Maarani clenched onto the seat below her, slowly rising to her feet and starting a pace around the common room.

"You know what's funny? I've been soul searching for eight years, trying to work out why the universe loves to torment me. And then, right when I get some of the answers I want from the Jedi, all the problems get multiplied on me. Why is that?"

Jayden gave another of her shrugs.

"This started out as training for me. Away from other padawans, because I guess they thought all my swearing and suicidal tendencies and other crap would be a bad influence on them. Only since Telos, I've had maybe one actual lesson from Dana, none from you, and we don't even have any semblance of a plan anymore."

Her face was slightly flushed from the outburst when she finally stopped to breathe. For once, seeing Jayden's look of dismay actually got right through to her.

"I'm not blaming you. I know we can't stay anywhere for too long and bring everyone to where Jedi allies are based. But there has to be something we can do in the meantime! Something that doesn't leave me feeling like I'm sitting on my ass just waiting for the next crisis to come!"

"Well, we could go over basic lightsaber forms…"

Maarani sighed in a very exaggerated manner. "My lightsaber still doesn't work, seeing as it's still missing half the parts. And apparently I'm not supposed to be learning combat anyway."

The real irony hit her then and there. Rather than making another remark, she went back to her pacing.

"Learning the forms won't help when I still can't use the Force anyway." There was another sigh, this time in defeat. "I want my powers back. Is that so much to ask after what I've been through?"

Jayden took her turn to stand, only needing a few steps to reach the Twi'lek's side for her show of support.

"I don't know exactly what Master Pala had in mind, but I think it's fair to say that you're capable of making your own decisions about this." She paused briefly when she heard a door opening in the starboard corridor. "I say that because what I'm about to propose is something she'd never agree to."

When Dana made her way into the common room, looking bemused, she straightened herself up and looked to Maarani directly.

Jayden ignored the look and continued "Bastila may be able to help, either through her own power or through guidance to someone who knows how."

"No."

For a moment, Jayden's fist clenched as she looked over at Dana. "This is Maarani's decision. Don't bring personal feuds into this."

"That bitch very nearly destroyed the Order out of spite. If we waltz over to Dantooine with another reminder that things didn't go her way-"

"She didn't have a problem with me being sent there!"

"You're a half-blood Mandalorian, not a born and raised Jedi! She doesn't want anything that reminds her of her own failings, and that includes people like Maarani!"

She very nearly said it. One word out of line. Now was definitely not the time to open up about herself.

Her hand went to her face, regret quick to set in. "I didn't mean anything by that Teegs. She's just a spiteful woman who never let go of her ego."

That was met with a questioning glare from Maarani herself.

"She was also a hero to me, Dana. I'm starting to wonder if Mission is the only one left out there without some massive flaw in her life's story."

Another sigh later, she was shoving past both Jedi towards the cockpit. "Maybe Bastila can't help me as much as I'd hope. I certainly can't stay on Dantooine for long."

She whapped Izan's shoulder upon entering, cringing a little when his feet dragged over the console from their uplifted position. After some sleepy grumbling he clambered over into the copilot's seat.

"Gonna meet more Jedi with checkered histories, Izan, you game?"

"What…"

Maarani made some quick adjustments that brought them out of hyperspace, then looked back over her shoulder to be certain Dana and Jayden had followed her.

"So far, I've been told that there's one other person who knew my parents best. And Bastila would be the closest person to her left, right?"

"Where is this going Teegs?"

For the first time in a while, Maarani smiled, quickly pointing at her face.

"It's about time I meet Yuthura Ban, however long this takes. Jedi-turned-hermit are great for pulling off miracles and giving wise advice, right?"

* * *

Empty space lay ahead. The freedom of the void at long last. No more looking over his shoulder to see other Sith looking disappointed in his progress. There was little to be left behind, and much to be gained without the restrictions imposed on his new tutor.

He was barely fazed when Masaka's hands slipped down over his chest, though couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile at the way she twisted her head around to begin smooching his neck.

"Don't think I deserve this. They didn't even try to stop me, you had the worst of it."

"Mm, too modest Varga."

Her mouth came away from his neck shortly after, while her hands fumbled at his robes, making no attempt to hide that she was trying to remove them.

After a while longer, her hands moved to grab his wrists instead. "Come, I've been needing this for a long time now."

Varga remained quite calm as he followed Masaka into the rear compartment of the ship. At the threshold of their quarters, her own robes came off, and soon her pants did as well before she laid herself out on the bed with a large grin. The only logical thing to do was to disrobe as well.

Small chuckles began to pass between the two, Varga settling in over her while she ran her hands over his chest, feeling the varied scars and burns that came with the gruelling training of Sith. Little comparison to the array of gouging marks that ran all over her body from the head.

"I really wouldn't have come this far without you. You've become such a vital person in my life…"

One hand slipped up behind his neck to pull him in for the deep kiss, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

He met it quite comfortably, hands moving in to hold her physically.

In the next moment, her sultry hold became fierce. A harrowing red glow beamed from her eyes to his while she screamed into his mouth, muffling out the cries of anguish.

The struggle lasted only a few seconds. When it ended, Varga's body was covered in haphazard scars.

Masaka had been cleansed of them, save for the single line running right down the middle of her head and body.

It took a small while for Properatus to settle into his new body. At first, he was barely able to lean up from her, fixated on the hand resting on her left hip. With some concentration, he pulled it away, and finally began to flex his fingers.

"Thousands of years in a holocron… I've forgotten what it's like to exist in a body…"

He brought his other arm up, slowly turning both in front of him to look over the scars. Just as he remembered them, albeit on the body of a much younger man.

"Yes, this is a very good form indeed. You chose well my dear."

Masaka's wicked grin appeared at last, her eyes flaring red.

"Next we find my sister. Or perhaps a way to restore Trutinavi that won't require me to lock lips with a Kaleesh woman. Or even touch one preferably."

Properatus grinned at that, awkwardly straightening out a finger to press to her lips. "Hush now. We can deal with your sister, and finding new bodies for the others in due time. Solidifying your position as the true Sith Lord is what matters most."

Another laugh from Masaka followed, her hand snaking back up to pull him close once more.

"How about you give your new body a test run first? I'm ready, and waiting."


	38. Knights of the Divided Order

As always, Dana's quarters were dimly lit. This time it was by a candle in front of her, swaying in its deep red glow to the movement of her eyes, following wherever she gazed.

She muttered a few words, incomprehensible to all but her people. And by all appearances there were none around to hear them.

The flame grew in intensity, then died down to a flicker. Her eyes closed.

"Forgive me, goddess, for what I do. I see nothing in my future, the evil eyes of the Jedi have overwhelmed me."

The flame flickered again, growing in intensity once more. This time it was with a core of black light, from which came the faintest of voices.

It also spoke in the tongue she had used.

"Your chosen are lost. I only remain as a fragment of Suroni. I am no longer worthy. I plead for you to seek out new worshippers."

The voice came again, more intense, with a definite tone of anger.

"I am truly sorry my goddess. I have done what I can to ensure you can continue, that you be free of their clutches, their wretched imprisonment."

There was a period of silence before the voice spoke again, softer that time.

"I have no choice. They will not let me leave. I cannot bear the thought of them learning the truth, and destroying your last remains."

After one last whisper, the flame died back down to its flickering state.

"I have failed all but my last duty. I live only to see your last Ember survive to a new age. And if the opportunity arises, I will seize it."

* * *

From the moment the cup slipped into her hand, Rilana felt a great calming sensation wash over her. Even before taking her first sip, the tea was making a difference. Quite potent indeed.

"You can thank Yuthura for that, or at least her botanist friend. It's really quite amazing what Felucian plant life has to offer." Surik herself had settled for water, which she left to the side while relaxing into her own chair opposite Rilana. "She's complained to me about wanting space, but I'm still convinced friendly faces are the way to go. And there's a lot you two can relate about."

"Perhaps. I only know her from reputation at the academy though. And she seemed far more emotional about the children, since I doubt she was crying at seeing me in person."

Surik tightened her lips, beginning to lean forward to make use of the moment. "That's one way to get to the subject at hand. So, first off, are these really Sith children, or those left behind by the colonists?"

"They're all from Sith or Dark Jedi. The colonists took theirs when they fled, no thought spared for the others."

Rilana took another sip to keep herself very calm. "I had only just been released from a slave crew, they found out I had strong potential in the Force and sent me to the academy. Most other teenagers there had similar experiences, so we bonded reasonably well."

Another sip, another sigh of cold comfort. "Then Revan tore through the place. Take it however you like, people I had come to know in those few weeks died by his blade before the in-fighting even began. Seeing as young initiates were kept in a separate part of the compound, we thought at first that we were the lucky ones."

After a sage nod, Surik took the first sip of her own, placing the cup down after with a steady hand. "Some parents went after him I take it. Others got caught up in the fallout, protecting their young?"

"You'd think. But no, I'd say a lot of them were just seizing the opportunity to take control." Yet another sip was needed to keep her composure firm. "It got worse over the next four years. Less ships came, and without the colony, Czerka was demanding more money and scavenging rights from the Sith. Then, about a year ago, they barricaded everyone they considered too young to be worth the trouble in the separate compound and fled on what ships were left. Not a single bit of remorse for abandoning their own children."

"Some of them might still regret it. But, you are right, it was a selfish decision. Fear of being left behind for showing that kind of 'weakness' is no excuse."

Rilana sighed again in contempt, her expression starting to turn dour. "I suppose I'm lucky in never knowing my parents, why they left me to the life of slavery under the Sith. It let me be just detached enough from the little ones when I had to explain why they weren't going to see their own parents anymore."

After finishing the last of her tea, she slid the cup away and looked right at Surik. "I want to know if any of them come back. I want to tell them face to face that they don't deserve the privilege of a reunion."

"So far, none of the Dark Jedi who have come back have asked Bastila or myself the question. And while I can see your point of view, I don't want them harboring ill will to anyone. That's going to get in the way of their path to redemption. Maybe something less confrontational in regards to their loss of custody?"

When she finally got a reluctant nod of agreement from Rilana, she smiled and leaned back into her chair at last. "So, the uniform with master ranks. Was that part of keeping the teenagers in line, or-"

"For show in transmissions. All I had to do was sound important, ensure they saw the rank, and most scavengers looking to pick through what was left backed off. Those that didn't we just hid from, or…" She took a small breath, beginning to wish for another cup of the calming tea. "I killed anyone who tried to get into the academy. I wasn't going to take the chance of them coming back with slavers. Or worse, like Darth Sion."

"I remember you mentioning him. I've been wondering why you were so calm in that transmission, caught me off guard when we met in person and that wasn't the case."

Rilana's gaze moved down for a few moments, feeling shameful about her behaviour, until she noticed Surik was smiling and clearly not holding it against her. "It's a lot easier to sound important when talking to a hologram. I didn't expect you to come in person either."

Surik gave one last nod, readying herself to stand at last. "I wanted to survey the place myself to be sure. At least something good came of a second visit. So, before we go, how did Algwinn end up trusting you enough to lie to everyone at that meeting?"

Once again, Rilana glanced around awkwardly before answering, her fingers starting to curl. "I begged him to keep the truth to himself. The oldest of us were going to come back here, and the rest would finally have a ship to escape to whatever planet would take them in. He isn't to blame."

"I'm not looking to blame. He's going to get a stern talking to for not at least telling Yuthura, but that's the end of it." She finally got up from her seat at that, retrieving her cup for return to the kitchens. "I think you'll get on well here. Proving that the Sith aren't beyond compassion will be a great help. That, and Merena would appreciate help with the other children we have here."

"I can certainly try."

Rilana remained at her seat for a while, not feeling ready to leave yet. When Surik reached the doorway, she sat up somewhat when a thought eventually did occur to her. "So, what's the deal with Masadar? He never explained what specific kind of mind trick he was trying to use, it was a lot stronger than anything the Sith taught."

"He's an empath. And a depressed one at that I might add, seeing as he believes he failed on Korriban."

"Failed?"

Surik shrugged and turned her head to Rilana, the small grin back again. "You reacted rather badly when he tried to calm you the first time. Right now, he doesn't want to try it again with Sith who can actually kill people."

Rilana tried not to roll her eyes. "I'll assume that's a compliment…"

* * *

"I am the calm that brings peace. There is emotion, tempered by poise. I am the rock upon which those may find refuge from their darkest-"

Masadar opened his eyes in a startled manner. A glance around the spacious room later, he was untangling his legs with a grumble.

"Last time I try to get all fancy with metaphor."

It was only after a second glance that he noticed Yuthura leaning in the doorway. He was hardly about to pin his lack of focus on her presence, so instead he hastily straightened out his robes in an attempt to save what little face was left.

"Excessive metaphor sounds like the old ways Masadar. What prompted it to begin with?"

"Apart from the near catastrophic failure on my first real attempt?"

Yuthura sighed a little while entering the meditation room for herself. "Before this devolves into exaggerations galore, perhaps we can try talking about it in a normal fashion?"

It took a while for Masadar to relent. When he did, he returned to a kneeling posture and waited for Yuthura to do the same, after she had taken her boots off. "I've spent so many years preparing for this one task. At first to keep more Jedi from falling in with Darth Revan. And then to fight back against the Purge. I know failure is always a possibility, but the cost there…"

"Is one you couldn't have foreseen, that I and others were painfully unaware of, and one that you can be virtually certain is not going to be repeated." Yuthura took that quiet moment to clap her knees. "Have I missed anything?"

Masadar looked at her. "Did Surik send you here for a pep talk?"

"No. In case you've forgotten in the last five seconds, being an empath works both ways and we're all feeling depressed now so someone had to come sort that out."

His jaw began to drop in horror.

"That's my last attempt at humour for the day." When that seemed to offer little comfort, she sighed again. "It's hard for me to not notice that you've been less 'yourself' since your return from Korriban. I've seen too many young men and women fall into this trap of self-doubt to even think about not intervening when I can. Don't let this one shortcoming define your plan for the future."

"That's not entirely up to me though. By now we were supposed to be discussing what Sith cell to check out next. Surik hasn't said a word to me, Bastila only the minimum pleasantries. It's hard to ignore that they had high hopes for tackling violent Sith without bloodshed, and harder still the fact that I just might never be able to deliver on that."

"Then forget about that plan, Masadar."

This time when he looked at her questioningly, she didn't have an urge to sigh or try and lighten the mood. Certain things had been running through her mind, and now was the time to begin sharing them with others.

"This is not a time when we can afford to get bogged down rethinking flawed ideas that will take too long to rectify. There are other things someone with your talent can do, look towards those for the time being."

"I don't know what else I'm supposed to do. I'm not trained as a counselor, or a psychologist for that matter."

There was another period of silence. Of course there was one thing that came to mind, but neither felt quite comfortable enough to bring it up. The responsibility to do so eventually fell to Yuthura anyway.

"I know you believe it's not a strong suit of yours, Juhani told me as much, but…"

Masadar took his turn to sigh, now feeling a sudden urge to get out of his meditative position and seek out fresh air instead. "Being around so many frightened minds…" The glare he got made it all too clear that he wasn't going to walk out so easily. "It is physically painful. Thirty eight different perspectives of the same atrocities, thirty eight reactions to them, all bombarding me as soon as I enter the room. It's unintentional, but an invasion nonetheless."

"I do understand what that is like, somewhat. But quite frankly, what I've seen of Rilana and the others tells me that they are going to need a lot more help than what I or just about any other Jedi can give. No-one is ordering you to do this, but it will make their healing process a lot better." His discontent wasn't unnoticed, prompting her to make one last attempt. "Even if you were still intent on traversing the galaxy I would have asked anyway."

"Alright alright, I'll see what I can do. So long as this is the end of it."

There was another bout of grumbling when he finally got back up on his feet. It got worse when he was about to leave and on an impulse looked back over his shoulder, only to see Yuthura grinning to herself.

Rather than making an actual remark, he waved the whole matter off and went on his way.

* * *

Atton's next drink from the cup was interrupted by one of the many dancers bending down to get his attention, bearing a large grin under some particularly heavy makeup. The intent was clear, and it almost hurt physically to gesture his hand in a manner that made her stand back up and return to the dance without another word. After all, he had a standard to keep up while in good company. Or at least what he was told was good company, though he certainly wouldn't ever say that to Carth's face.

"You know, I can't help but wonder if the universe was taking the piss when I made one crack about the red lightsaber. In more ways than one."

"Oh, so you think Kreia turning out that way and Sion having a thing for the Exile is all a big joke then?"

"Well, no, I'm not saying it's because I made that joke. More like the Force made me say it when it knew I'd end up eating two feet for it. Everything has some sense of humour, however sick, twisted, demented it might be."

Carth shrugged while taking his own drink. "Speaking from personal experience then? Actual experience I mean?" He cracked a grin at the look he got for that. "You're hardly the only man in the galaxy who runs into those types Rand."

"That come up because the women I've had to hang around are either mysterious or prone to insulting me?"

"Perhaps. Or maybe you're a little too good at giving the wrong kind of impression to people, the sort I've been told to watch for. Now I'm hardly the one to consult about resolving trust issues…"

"There's an understatement."

"Harsh, but alright. My point is that you can probably reconsider playing up the deception now that things have changed, and maybe when that happens they'll stop giving you the sarcastic or dismissive edge. It's a new age, people don't have to hide anymore."

"Unless it's behind a desk?"

"Hey, I don't hide. If anything I'm chained to it until everyone gets back on their feet. When I'm not spending what little time I have left at the officer's club with some Jedi friends of mine of course."

"I'll buy that. Can't say the same for the drinks."

"Now that's unfair." The grin returned despite his protest, culminating into a genuine chuckle before he finished what was left in his glass. "Just this one time then. Admiral's salary isn't as great as you might think."

"Better than a Jedi's salary. Which is 'a healthy amount of feeling good about oneself for doing humane deeds' according to Bastila."

"That sounds about right. Hope she's not giving you a hard time."

"No more than usual. Probably got her hands full with keeping everything going and raising a son at the same time to join the 'poke fun at Atton' club. I'd offer to help if I knew where to start."

Carth sighed again, staring into the bottom of his empty glass. It came to rest on the bar with a small chink. "Bastila is stubborn, and she's not the sort to ask for help if she believes she can handle a problem. But she's very close with Juhani, seeing as she's spent the past four years protecting both Bastila and Vaner. If you really do want to help out more, try asking her instead."

Atton only needed a few moments to think back to their very brief conversation on arrival day. "Yeah, and how do I get past her ice wall?"

"Try talking to her normally for starters. Don't let that fierce Cathar face intimidate you; when she's not chasing down her past she's one of the gentlest people I know."

He left a few credit chips on the bar while shifting himself off the stool at long last, covering both drinks and the tip. When it became apparent that Atton was intent on staying, he cleared his throat to ask the lingering question in mind.

"Why Bastila? Meetra is back from Korriban by now, and I'm sure she's still got a lot of problems to cover herself."

Just for a moment, Atton clenched his hand up.

"She's obsessing over that Twi'lek guy that showed up, and the kids they brought back from Korriban. And before that it was Visas and Brianna getting all the important jobs…" He sighed and waved his hand out as if that would make the lingering resentment go away. "She's got her share of responsibility under control, I know that because she isn't the sort who won't ask for help. And I don't particularly like feeling useless."

* * *

Until that evening, Masadar hadn't actually thought to wander the halls of the Temple on foot. Everything looked so much larger, especially with the setting sun casting deep shadows across the main hall floor. What was usually a quick zip across that took no less than a minute now felt like a daunting trek through endless pillars. There was little in the way of repair crews on the main floor too, having moved onto restoring the spires at last. It made the isolation deeper for their absence.

It certainly wasn't how he had imagined it as a young boy at the enclave on Ryloth. And now, he almost regretted taking the time to walk and finally notice that his vision was woefully wrong.

Even the limited reprieve it gave him from what he was about to face seemed regrettable once it was over. At the threshold of the dormitory, noticeably isolated from where other children were situated, he realized that an ideal opportunity to ready himself had been wasted on musing.

He took a breath and stepped through the doorway. To his initial relief, he couldn't feel any temperature drop, nor the feeling of dread that had permeated Korriban.

The central hall that contained all the necessary amenities was unusually dark however. Lights were on, but they had been dimmed significantly.

That made it harder for him to finally notice Rilana sitting on one of the lounges, very much awake, but not acknowledging his presence. When he did eventually notice her, he did the only polite thing that came to mind and softly cleared his throat.

That made her sit up in a start, hastily brushing down the gown she was wrapped up in. She slowed a bit upon noticing it was Masadar and not one of the other Twi'lek Jedi. "Surik said you were depressed. That you felt like you failed, because I lashed out. Am I about to be asked for an apology, or a reassurance that it wasn't the end of your big plan?"

After a belated shrug, Masadar idly wandered over to a nearby table that he leaned against with his arms gradually folding up. "Yuthura wants me to help. Despite the fact that the only reason I haven't already volunteered is because I really don't have a clue on where to begin. It's not what I prepared for, plain and simple."

"So, in other words, we're not so much a lost cause, as much as we are… an inconvenient change of plans?"

Masadar frowned. It wasn't an attempt by Rilana to bait him into an outburst. That was a genuine question, and a worrying one at that.

"I didn't intend offence, my apologies."

The arms came down, his posture relaxing. To his further relief, Rilana relaxed in turn. No need for projecting his mood for a while yet.

"In my experience, children vary far too much to reliably handle, especially in number. I'd have to reach into the core of what they consider a calming notion on an individual basis, and worse, that notion can change at a moment's notice. There's no mental rock for them to stand on that has been built from years of experience."

"They've had years of experience alright. It just isn't the experience of a safe family, or the upbringing of a Jedi…"

"Please, Rilana, I'm trying to-"

"Make excuses?"

She sighed as well, breaking eye contact to pace around, let her lingering frustration seep away as she had been instructed to. It took a few more inhales for her to feel calm enough to face him once more.

"If you recall Juhani describing Bastila as a compassionate person who would be able to sympathise with our predicament, then you should know she was wrong. I tried talking to her earlier today, she gave me this nasty look and ordered me to leave her presence."

"That doesn't sound like Bastila."

Rilana shrugged in a mildly aggressive way. "That's what happened. Merena'Likta was a bit nicer at least, but she didn't want me spending time with the Jedi children at all. So, I'm not going to apologize for feeling a little bothered, and maybe just second guessing the decision to come here."

"I think some overly cautious people is better than the physical embodiment of misery and suffering."

That gave him the opportunity he had sought. Rilana was in a crucial position, and it had fallen to him to ensure she went down the right path. Not the responsibility he had expected, but despite his reluctance he finally felt ready to handle it on behalf of the others.

When he approached her, it with a hand of comfort to her shoulder, and a confident look he forced himself to keep for the sake of making what he had to stay stick with her.

"I can't begin to describe how much anguish, how much confusion I'm sensing from you just from being in the same room. The fact is that none of us are fully settled yet, no-one has a comfort zone to retreat to, and so a lot of Jedi are going to be more reserved until then. I realize it may sound unfair, but in this kind of situation, the first step falls to you Rilana. You need to become comfortable with them before they become comfortable with you."

Rilana was ready to pull away from his hold in annoyance. She didn't like the notion that she had to be consoled like that. But then she often forgot just how young she was anyway. And more importantly, how much she missed having someone looking out for her interests for a change.

She returned to the lounge and sat down quietly. Her hands went to her face in an upward rub that at least soothed some of her lingering issues. When Masadar sat down beside her, leaving a respectable distance between them, one last sigh came.

"There's one thing in particular that's been weighing on me for over a year now. I'm still at a loss on what to do about it."

"Go on."

In her moment of tension, she rolled the tip of her left lekku between her fingertips as if to draw out what she wanted to say through it instead. The subtle parts of Ryl didn't seem suitable. "Revan has become something of a legend to the galaxy now. A fallen hero returning to glory again after his battle with his own darkness, saving lives and stopping the destruction of the Republic. Am I wrong?"

Masadar shook his head. He had an ugly feeling that he knew where she was going with it."

"The children know that he was a Jedi who turned to the dark side and was overthrown by Malak, and that he returned to Korriban to return the favour." Her breath began to shudder, with just the faintest cold to it when she exhaled. "Some of the older ones already believe he orphaned them. And the rest will put the pieces together when they hear the great tales of Revan the Redeemed. Hero to all but the children he turned into orphans, either directly or as a consequence of his actions. Can you imagine what kind of bitterness that kind of praise about him from others will form in them?"

"A bitterness that could undermine everything they are taught about turning away from the dark side and learning to embrace the hard but true way of morality and goodwill?"

Rilana pursed her lips. "That's oddly specific, and a little poetic."

"I've asked myself that same question about Revan as well. Yet another in the long line of fallen Jedi, but possibly the first to make such a complete turnaround. It's unprecedented, and I get the feeling many still don't know what to think, five years later."

For a moment, he sensed the presence of another nearby. After a cursory glance around the room, he looked back to Rilana.

"The reasoning in my head is… well, complicated as you'd expect. I really don't know how I would explain such an issue to an adolescent, let alone a child."

"Explain it to me then." She sat back up to attention, brushing both lekku behind her shoulders while she did so. "I'll convey it to them in whatever way they need to understand it."

Masadar cleared his throat, a little disparaged, but this time willing to give it a go after all that had been said.

"The fact is, there's always a hard truth about legends, the ones of our time anyway. And, it's that they're still people, like you and I, people who are just as capable of making mistakes as anyone. They're never infallible, we just choose to either see only the good or bad they did as a whole, in most cases anyway."

He paused for breath, still sensing that other presence, but now determined to carry on.

"I don't think that's a bad thing, not entirely. Yes, we need to learn from the mistakes of others, and yes those mistakes can be tragic. But if we go around pointing out all the flaws in heroes, they stop being heroes. They stop giving hope to those who know them as a legend, to those who aspire to do good deeds like them. Revan was hardly a perfect man, he did some terrible things in his time. But if people remember him as the man who had the power of the Dark Side in his hand, and turned away from it because he felt it was the right thing to do, then I can live with that."

A long breath was drawn while he looked away from her, closer to the door where he sensed the other. "After the devastation Exar Kun wrought, I think the galaxy needs something new to look towards. The Jedi might have genuinely believed redemption was beyond the Sith after his time, but now they know that it is still very much a possibility for even the darkest soul to have a change of heart. Whatever Revan did, before or after his change, will always be second to that monumental achievement. We shouldn't forget the mistakes made, but we also shouldn't let them be the primary definition of his legend."

His gaze had become distant throughout what he had intended to be a small explanation. When he finally realized he had gone and made a full blown speech, he turned back to Rilana with an apologetic look. "That got a little…"

To his great surprise, there was a tear rolling from her left eye. And for the first time in a long while, he saw a genuinely funny side to the matter at hand.

"Come now, surely listening to me ramble on isn't that awful."

When Rilana did finally notice the tear, she brushed it up onto her finger, staring at it with a look of innocence, almost appearing confused by it. "I don't think I've had tears in over a decade now…" When she breathed in, it was shuddering, and noticeably warmer than she had ever felt in her life. In fact, despite the cool nature of the room, she felt quite comfortable indeed. "Is this what it feels like? Not being immersed in the dark side constantly, this warmth?"

"Well I doubt it's the other reason for feeling warm that comes to mind, if I might be so bold." Masadar felt a smile creeping up. For all his doubts, concerns and worries about having failed, there was a new feeling that he had just made a breakthrough in undoing the damage the Sith had done to their own kind. Not through using his empathic powers, or even the generalized ones the Force bestowed.

When the adolescent girl hiding behind the doorway finally made her appearance, he motioned to the space between himself and Rilana for her to sit down in. In his eyes, no longer yet another troubled child who would face an upward battle to overcome the darkness inherited from her parents. There was certainly a challenge ahead, just not a futile one that he dreaded anymore.

"Is it true? What you said about Revan?"

Masadar looked to Rilana, then to the girl situated between them, nodding sagely while resting a hand on her shoulder. "I never met the man, and perhaps its better that way. I don't think we'll ever truly know who did what that day, but I do know he had good intent throughout, and that if he could have avoided that tragedy, he would have done so."

After another look across, he lifted his hand to the girl's head and ruffled her hair gently, undoing some of the effort made to comb it down into a neat ponytail, but not without good intent of his own. "So, what's your name young one?"

The girl looked up at both Twi'lek, waiting for an approving nod from Rilana before finally focusing on the man to her left.

"Elira."

* * *

It was a moment of mixed feelings for Surik.

Setting foot in the Temple after ten long years carried a great emotional weight to it. The feeling that she had truly come home, that her exile was over.

Setting foot in the newly reconstructed Council chamber was another weight altogether. Her memory of that very day, rife with all manner of feelings felt just as fresh in that moment. She could see every one of the Council members sitting before her, passing judgement on a matter they knew nothing about, but believed they had every authority on.

She took a deep breath, and released that memory from her mind at last. The last remnant of the old Council was gone from her mind.

When she approached the Grand Master's chair, she no longer felt Vrook's lingering presence in it. Like all the others, it was just another seat waiting to be filled.

How easy it would be to sit down there herself, to postpone her plans, and see the full restoration of the Order.

The most she did was reach out her hand, eyes closed, as if cleansing that key place in preparation for the one who was to lead in her absence. One thing remained clear; it was not a place she would ever find herself in.

"Revisiting the past?"

"Putting it behind me, actually." She opened her eyes and lowered her hand, half turning towards Bastila while she walked towards the centre of the room. "It's time we discussed who will form the new Council. Knowing just how busy you've been, I wanted to wait until you had time enough to rest and think."

Bastila stopped right beside Surik, taking a long look at the Grand Master seat herself before looking to her. "I can't lead the Council if that's what you're thinking. However much Carth and Mission might describe me as 'bossy', I have a strong feeling that it is not the place for me."

"I wasn't going to presume as much. You've got a son to raise after all, that has always been my first concern regarding you."

"Then I appreciate the consideration." For a moment, Bastila heard Atris' voice echoing at the back of her mind, repeating the statement she herself had made to Yuthura in the garden.

 _All I see is Surik rolling out the changes, on my behalf. I don't recall making that many myself…_

"I'd ask that Juhani be considered for the Council. She may be reluctant, but through some of the worst years of my life I've had her unwavering support. And she knows the struggles of moving on in life. That would be invaluable in helping the former Sith overcome the struggles they face."

"I've already got her shortlisted for the long-term."

Surik took a few paces around the room to the seat left of the Grand Master's, motioning her hand to indicate that it was where she expected Juhani to be. A few paces more, she stopped again. "Yuthura is another I'd like to see on the long-term. I realize her actual Jedi training was short, but she still has a wealth of knowledge, and she has the respect of many in the Order already."

"Including mine."

After another nod, Surik walked back to the two seats right of the Grand Master. "One of these I'm leaving open until you've had time enough to consider whether or not you want to actively serve. I think they can manage with eleven for a time. The other…" She tightened her lips. There was a faint feeling that she was about to encounter some resistance. "I'm considering Masadar'Arani for it. He is relatively young, but he has been trained in the Jedi ways, and even if he feels he cannot help out in the field, having his kind of stabilizing presence here is also invaluable."

"Sound reasoning. While I feel he could use another year or two of training, you were quite right in demonstrating that we just can't spare anyone for the sake of completion at this time."

Surik drew a small breath. The sensation of resistance was still there, and there was only one other that really stuck out as potentially being a contentious decision.

"The other seven can be drawn from those we can trust to lead and decide effectively. I know you have reservations about Mira and Atton, but they are quite capable, and having Council members who are eager to remain active in the galaxy is a very necessary change from the old one."

Bastila gave an approving nod while she too circled the room, looking to the other desolate chairs. "I'd leave a space open for when Master Vandar's successor arrives. I've spoken with him, a more reserved man called Utan, and quite the proficient in lightsaber construction and handling from what he's told me. In time he can move up to a long-term role anyway."

"Does he speak like Vandar, or in the more traditional manner?"

Bastila frowned at the implication, but knew well enough to let it slide. "He speaks as we do, yes."

The frown wasn't missed by Surik, but she too chose to ignore it. "I'll feel a lot better when he arrives. I do miss Vandar's presence."

"As do I."

When the silence set in, Bastila's arms began to fold. The fact that they had skipped over the position of leader since her refusal was hard to miss. And she was beginning to sense that Surik had mixed feelings about the matter herself.

"Are you having second thoughts about leaving?"

Surik only took a long breath, eyes beginning to drift away from Bastila to the view of nighttime Coruscant beyond. "I'm not sure. Part of me wants to stay here, to continue guiding the Order for another year or two, until we find someone truly capable of taking my place." Another breath, and she looked back to Bastila. "I hear his voice every night, at the exact same hour. A distant call to arms. The Order may need me, but Revan needs me as well. And while numbers here are few, out there, he is alone."

Her eyes lowered to the floor, watching her steps as she approached Bastila, eventually looking back up to meet her weary gaze. "I can't promise that I'll bring him back, if I even can return myself. But I will try. For you and your son I will try." The faint smile crept onto her face at last. "Whether I do or do not, try is all I can promise, and exactly what I will do."

"That's more than I could possibly ask of you, Meetra. Thank you, truly."

She was ready to leave at that. The soft clack of her boots seemed distant compared to when she had entered. There wasn't a pressing concern any longer that was keeping her rooted in the moment. They had just openly discussed one of the most crucial decisions of the restoration as a whole, and both come to similar conclusions. Moreso, Surik seemed to be going the extra step to accommodate her. The concerns planted in her mind were nothing more than an unwanted distraction.

And yet, at the doorway, she couldn't help looking back over her shoulder, wanting the answer she hadn't actually heard yet.

"Who do you have in mind for leading?"

Surik had been watching her departure up until that moment, where she had to break eye contact again. The feeling of discomfort was growing strong. Perhaps it was better to discuss it openly as well…

"There's two possibilities in mind. I need more time to consider them both. But if you were thinking of someone else?"

Basila shook her head one last time. "Apart from Yuthura, no, but I doubt she would be willing to take on a larger role anyway. Perhaps it is something that requires wider discussion."

"Perhaps. I'll keep thinking on it. Sleep well Bastila."

* * *

In the hall outside her quarters, just as she was returning for the night, Bastila felt a sudden urge to stop and turn around.

For a moment, she swore that someone had been standing there. Someone with an odd feature to their face that she couldn't quite make out. When another look turned up nothing, she sighed, resigning the moment to a trick of weariness and made her way inside.

There was freshly made tea waiting for her inside, a courtesy from Merena that she was incredibly grateful for when provided, always when she felt she needed it most.

Her quiet sips were the only sound to be heard for a while, until she reached the doorway to Vaner's own room. Just like every other night, he was sleeping peacefully, his breathing a steady sound that always made her feel relieved. Despite all that had happened, he didn't have to live with nightmares.

She entered her room after leaving him a goodnight kiss, finding it bathed in soft moonlight through the one-way glass in the ceiling. Above, she could just make out Hesperidium and Centax-2 through the array of ships and satellites outside the atmosphere.

A gesture towards a nearby panel closed the panels on the ceiling, something she often did anyway to feel reassured of privacy despite how effective the glass was.

When she did lay her head down to rest on the appropriately simple bed, she was comfortably wrapped in white, left to stare up at the soft cream of the ceiling panels before settling into sleep.

Rather than settling into her usual pattern of meditating on the mysteries of the Force, she found herself in an entirely new and unfamiliar realm.

It was a desolate brown, uncannily like Korriban with the red drained away. And yet, it didn't carry the stench of darkness, or the dreaded chill that the world bore to it. There were no statues, not even any sign of a structure on the surface. But then it was possible the great winds tearing across the surface had eroded them away long ago.

"Is this an attack on my mind? If so, you have a poor choice of visuals to try and intimidate me with!"

A harsh whisper from behind made her spin around. The air rushed out of her body, replaced by a single stabbing pain that went right through her chest.

Darth Revan was standing there in full robes, hood and mask, just as he had been all those years ago. Unlike all those years ago, there was a streak of blood slashed across his mask. And he was in great pain.

"Bastila! Don't let her leave!"

"Kanjeff." She took a step forward, to which he waved his hand as if to warn her to stay away. "What happened? Where are you?"

He fell to one knee, a chilling cry of pain escaping the mask. "Don't ask! Don't ever come! They cannot escape! The Sith-"

With one last chilling cry of pain, Revan crumbled into the bleak dust. Over his body stood Meetra Surik, lightsaber in hand. Her right eye had been gouged out, and there were blood splatters all across her robes. The only expression on her face was that of utter failure.

Failure to save him?

Bastila took another step closer, her jaw hanging in shock. Her hand began to reach out towards Surik. Disbelief was overwhelming.

Another hand from behind grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around. In that moment, she saw herself. Three lines adorned her alternate's face. Black, grey, and white.

"Don't betray the Exile."

The next thing she saw was the hallway to Vaner's room, having sat up abruptly. She felt hotter than she had ever been during Jakku's tropical summer, taking a full minute to realize she was in a full sweat.

By then, she had rushed to the bathroom to wash down her face, still shuddering at the very vivid experience. In all her years, even when travelling with Revan and sharing visions of his lost memory, she had never experienced a dream that felt quite so real.

Speaking of the present, wearing the mask of the past. And warning her not to follow.

Her skin began to cool off, as did the shock of the experience. She looked up into the mirror ahead and saw her reflection. Not a duplicate, and certainly not bearing three distinct markings.

A sigh of exhaustion came at last, her lips trembling still, but no longer shaking uncontrollably.

"Shadows in the hall, fever dreams on the eve of great change…"

Not fifteen minutes earlier had Surik mentioned hearing Revan calling for her aid, and she was already now imagining something similar. Some part of her wanted Surik to stay, to make the hard decisions on her behalf. And her overactive paranoia was still not willing to die off.

"Just abstract thinking, nothing more."

She stared at her reflection again, pondering on the three marks. If they were relevant to her past experience with the Force, then it was a little on the nose, something she felt even Mission would say was excessively obvious. And as for her present…

"Is she going to arrive too late to save him? How would I even betray her?"

* * *

While in quite a good mood from his newfound success, Masadar still couldn't help but feel disgruntled at being summoned from his rest. Worse still, he hadn't the faintest clue who it was on the other end of his communicator, save for the fact that it was a woman who sounded surprisingly confident in asking for a midnight chat.

It wasn't until he reached the hall in question that his heart sank. The very same one that Surik had been very clear about avoiding at all times, though in her own words it was to ensure the privacy of the guest staying there. And as far as he was aware, only four people knew anything about that guest beyond what she looked like. And that was only because she had left the room to help move a dangerous artifact.

All of that in mind left him feeling very hesitant when he approached that door. There was a definite dark presence to it, and yet so very different from the one Korriban perpetuated. At the threshold, he didn't feel dread.

He felt anger. Seething anger, the sort that went well beyond what anyone would be normally capable of experiencing at a given moment. It was ancient, and well set in.

And abruptly gone when the door opened at last. All that remained was a very faint chill and a very dark room.

"Inside."

With a frown, and a tap to the lightsaber at his side for assurance, he stepped into the room. The door closed almost immediately, which of course heightened his concern.

Walking in without telling anyone was a particularly stupid thought that was sure to see him get an angry speech similar to the one Algwinn copped on their return.

"Sit."

At that, Masadar went for the attempt at defusing his own worries. "Gladly, when I work out where the seats are."

The ambient lights around the room began to grow at last. Soon enough he could make out the shape of the woman, kneeling down in front of a small table, apparently staring at a candle. When he moved closer, he could see that it had been extinguished just moments earlier.

He glanced at it just for a moment. And then glanced again. And again. Soon he became consciously aware that he couldn't actually look at the candle directly. Something always made him look away before he could stare at it for too long. A powerful mind trick of some sort that he had yet to encounter before.

"Sit."

He disregarded his suspicions about the candle for the time being, circling around to kneel down opposite the woman. Now that the lights around were at a suitable level, he could better see the scars that adorned her body. There was a minimal wrapping around her chest, leaving much of her back, stomach and shoulder region open to view.

The scars were definitely ritualistic. And more worryingly, some looked self-inflicted.

"Masadar'Arani of Ryloth. Strong in the light of the Force, but doubtful of his own ability. You have a brother back home, a mundane who oversees farms and cattle. You also bear a cybernetic implant inside your right lekku to correct a childhood defect."

Masadar frowned again, but remained strictly calm. "Nothing a quick search through the database wouldn't uncover. If you're trying to intimidate me by acting as if you simply know these things, it won't work."

"Intimidate?" Dana's eyes flicked open at last, glaring right back at the Twi'lek before her. "Surik asked me to help her end the Sith threat without bloodshed. I have formulated a plan, and you hold a key component to enacting it."

He nodded with a bit of a disgruntled expression. "My empathic powers aren't enough. Any Sith of normal strength will sense the invasion and lash out before the calm sets in. I doubt you knew that, seeing as it is something that has yet to be put to any kind of record."

"I knew that before you even went to Korriban, actually."

"Oh I'm sure. But please, tell me how it's still going to help."

Dana's lips twisted to one corner, holding back a scowl. Her eyes went to the candle for a few moments, then back to him again. "There's a very simple reason why it didn't work. You are Jedi through and through; the light is so strong in you that your very presence makes me sick. And it makes Sith equally sick. Before you even get near enough to talk their defences are already on the rise. Try anything and they will resist with all their willpower. It is a simple irony that your strength is exactly what undermines the solution."

"And you're proposing I let myself fall from grace?"

"No, you're too pure for that. Though the thought is amusing nonetheless."

Her hands lifted off her knees and cupped around the candle. In a puff of fire it vanished, leaving Masadar astonished. When her hands returned to her knees, it was with a firm clap and a bracing inhale from her.

"To be blunt, you need to find a woman who hails from the dark side, and breed a new empath with her. Preferably one equal to or stronger than you in power."

Masadar nearly choked on his breath, already surprised by the vanishing candle, and now hit with quite possibly the last thing he expected to hear in his life.

"Breed? Do you realize the catastrophic events that have resulted from Force users breeding in the past? And now you speak of it as if it is just a casual step in this plan of yours?"

"You exaggerate, as I've sensed you have a subdued tendency to. Miraluka do not breed power hungry tyrants, nor do they suffer catastrophic events from within. Katarr was an external case after all."

Before he could protest further, she raised her hand with an insistent glare for his continued silence. "The facts are this. Empaths are a rare breed in the galaxy, and those of your power do not manifest on their own more than once a thousand years. The Sith cannot be allowed to hide for that long. So, in order to stop them peacefully, you need to bend the rules and take matters into your own hands. This is the only viable way forward."

The absurdity of how it all sounded grew to be a bit much for Masadar. There was a fine line between him cracking up in laughter, and outright walking through the door and speaking of it to no-one ever again.

"A woman from the dark side? What, so my theoretical child has some common ground with the Sith he is sent off to pacify?"

"Precisely."

His deluded amusement died off rather quickly. Doubts aside for the moment, there was a logic to what she was saying. An empath who was closer to the fine line between the light and the dark would theoretically not upset a Sith's defences so quickly. And yet that fine line was exactly what brought back the worries and concerns.

"I suppose you've got someone already in mind then for me to settle with. Someone who knows enough about the ambiguity of the Force to keep my still theoretical son from falling to the dark side anyway? That would have been so incredibly helpful in pretty much all of Jedi history."

"Drop the sarcasm, Masadar. It isn't funny that the woman with every reason to despise the Jedi is taking this more seriously than the Jedi himself."

"It's hard to under these circumstances. How would you feel if you were suddenly told to propagate with a Jedi to pass on some gift that could potentially destroy your people?"

Her expression remained deadly cold, hiding the billowing rage within. "You don't want to know that answer, because of the two of us I'd expect you to be the better person and show both restraint and an open mind."

A hand lifted to the table, and with another gesture produced a shallow metal bowl in the same puff of flame she had disappeared the candle with.

"The Jedi are masters of deception, mostly of themselves, choosing to ignore the feats that can be accomplished with an open mind, and more importantly, an awareness of their own self. The same applies to the Sith, the two halves are locked together. It takes an outside perspective to see where the flaws lie, and where the common ground is to be had."

There was a slight wince when she stabbed a nail into her own palm. The newly bloodied finger extended out to point into the bowl, letting a small trickle of blood flow down from the wound to fill it. When there was enough there, she gestured again, setting the bowl alight.

"I am not asking you to betray the ideals of the Jedi in order to let others maintain them. Breeding a new empath that can walk the line between the two orders does not require love, it requires a focused mind that knows what the priority is. It also requires a decisive mind that will end a threat if one arises, even if that threat is his own child, should he fail to guide them correctly."

Once the fire in the bowl had died down, a small crystalline formation remained. With her outstretched hand, now seemingly healed of the cut, she delicately lifted it out of the bowl and held it up between the two.

"My people developed a technique that allowed us to explore the nature of the dark side without succumbing to the worst of its effects. Imbue the child who will walk the path in between with this, and you might just avoid creating one of the most terrifying Sith Lords to date."

Masadar looked at the formation with a scrutinizing gaze, then at Dana. "Why now? And why share this technique in a way that only one can use?"

Dana's face went colder still. "Trust needs to be established now, not when the moment arrives. And that is a gift for whomever receives it. It bears the weight of far more than the blood of my people, something I absolutely won't give to anyone freely. And despite your insolence, I find you charming and reasonable enough to follow through with the plan without my observation."

After turning it in his fingers again, he carefully placed it back down in the bowl. A disturbing thought had occurred to him. "You're talking about yourself. This is all an attempt to seduce me…"

"Oh please. I'm doing what Surik asked of me. You know the first phase, you have a necessary tool for the second, and the third will come down to how you choose to proceed." She lifted both hands palm up and produced a flame in each. One white, one black.

"Raise your successor in the ways of the Jedi and you repeat the exact problem you are in."

She clenched down on the white flame.

"Let your mate raise them in the ways of the Sith, or whatever dark heritage she hails from if you have some imagination, and you will create a tormented monster that will break the mind of any who go near them."

She clenched down on the black flame.

"Let them find their own path, with just enough freedom to not fall to either side, and maybe you will get your champion of pacifism by the time the next upstart Sith comes to play." She lowered her hands. "I suppose you'll get some Jedi children in the meantime from those who aren't favoured by your genetics. Just be wary of the fact that girls are far more likely to draw from the dark side than boys in your future family."

"Yes, because alignment comes from chromosomes, just as the connection to the Force comes from genes. You're clearly a master biologist."

"What did I say about sarcasm?"

"Sarcasm? I recall being referred to as charming and reasonable, but nothing about that."

Dana broke into a scowl briefly. Just enough to make it clear to him that she still wasn't seeing anything humorous about it. "Whatever, my task is done. Go contemplate, talk with whomever you have to." There was a small scoff when he finally began to get up. "I expect we'll meet again eventually anyway."

"Oh? So you're staying here after all?"

"I'm effectively forbidden from leaving for one. And all I meant was that they will probably need an empath for the process I've already decided to call 'the Revan treatment'. For the sake of being self explanatory."

He tried not to let the thought get the better of him as it was shoved to the forefront of his mind. Of course, all he had said about Revan in admiration when consoling Rilana had been conveniently forgetting that there was a nasty side to the whole matter. He really didn't like the idea of participating in something similar himself.

"So that it then? You help us, and they wipe your mind? That doesn't seem like a deal Surik would ever consider fair."

By then he was at the doorway, where he was finally stopped by her chilling laugh.

"I asked her to give me that mercy. Sure, given enough time the person you've just met will probably resurface in bits and pieces. But hopefully by then, the Dana Lauran you'll come to know will have a much more favourable view of the Jedi. Try to give me a satisfactory personality, alright?"

Masadar didn't say anything more on his way out. Unlike his last conversation with Yuthura, he didn't have any desire to look back. Trying to block out what he had just been told was all he could do for the time being.

* * *

Surik waited in silence a whole minute before speaking up. At the meeting table, on the day of one of their most crucial decision processes yet, over half of the people she expected to be there were absent. She was by no means upset or bothered by that fact, just surprised that she was early by comparison despite taking far longer to arrive than she had hoped.

And while Aibrehl and Shara Mires were people she felt she could pass the time in conversation with well enough, Sereti was the one who looked most eager to speak up. While her behaviour certainly wasn't as disrespectful as some made it out to be, this was one such event that would be better off without her interjections.

But, rather than letting them happen after the fact, and with little else to do, she eventually decided to tackle the potential problem head on.

"Sereti, don't take this the wrong way, but why are you so abrasive?"

Now more than ever she was glad Miraluka didn't have eyes. Just imagining the glare she was getting from both Sereti and Aibrehl was making her wish she hadn't just gone and been so loose lipped about the matter.

Shara's face went right into the palm of her gauntlet. Some of the others to her left muttered to themselves in their native language.

Sereti herself was quick to retaliate with one of her quips. "Master Jedi, why are you so completely lacking in the art of subtlety?"

"Dying twice at Malachor probably put a dent in my social skills. And now that I think about it, blunt is a more fitting word."

She was incredibly relieved when Masadar and Yuthura finally showed up, deep in discussion about something that they wrapped up before entering earshot of the meeting table. Masadar in particular looked to be perpetually disturbed.

The rest soon arrived at their own intervals, some looking more ready than others, but she was about as far from a position to ask why as she could possibly be at that point.

Amidst the small discussion that began with the others, she noticed Bastila beckoning for her attention well away from the table. There was a definite look of concern about her.

"Something wrong?"

"I don't know." Bastila's arms were firmly folded. The feeling of insecurity hadn't gone away since the night before. "It's been awhile since I had nightmares, long after I came back to Coruscant. And they chose last night to resurface."

Surik nodded in a vague knowing way. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned Revan. I sensed him trying to reach out more than usual. And I certainly didn't mean for that assurance to cause distress."

For a long moment, Bastila remained quiet. Throughout the night, and the waking morning, she had gone over the nightmare again and again, trying to discern anything she could truly consider meaningful.

"It was only an uncomfortable reminder. Unfortunately I learned nothing of value. I highly doubt it was a shared vision of what lies ahead for you."

 _Don't betray the Exile…_

"In any case, I didn't mean to keep you this long. I just felt you needed to know that I'm quite alright. Whatever discussion there is to be had can wait for another time."

"Fine by me."

They returned to the meeting table, at which point the quiet discussion went silent again. Everyone had a fair idea of how important that meeting in particular was, and whatever had happened even minutes earlier was no longer a priority.

After a quick glance around the table, Surik smirked a little, placing both hands on the edge before her. "Might want to make room, there's one other who will be joining us."

At the other end of a table, Juhani and one of the attending Felucians stepped to either side on an impulse. Between them strode Dana, taking her spot at the table with a small smile of her own.

"How considerate of you to remember." She looked around the faces now fixated on her, winking to Masadar in a way that made him recoil to her amusement, and finally back to Surik and Bastila at the other end. "So, I get to meet my pseudo-executioners in advance after all. How nice."

"Ignore her exaggeration." The smirk vanished while Surik looked to the others, already showing their concern. "She's here because I want her to come around without submitting to a mind wipe and reconstruction, something she requested of myself and Bastila the night before."

"Just get on with your meeting. I won't be changing my mind."

After one look to Bastila, Surik did just that. "As you all well know, there aren't a whole lot of Jedi veterans left, let alone those who can be trusted to lead the Order in these coming years. As such, the Council will consist of a handful of current Jedi that Bastila and I have selected, alongside those from our allies that can serve until permanent members are able to take their place." She took a small breath. "That and the position of Grand Master is going to be a cursory title for the time being. There's no need for presumption or whatever in regards to who is chosen for that role, we just need someone specified as Council leader."

With a quick gesture, she brought up a holo-display of the Council seats as a visual aid for delegation. "For the inner circle, we've nominated Juhani, Yuthura, Brianna, Utan and Masadar. Bastila will be semi-active at her discretion."

She looked to the four present in turn. Juhani was quiet, and perhaps a little nervous, but her demeanour suggested that she was unsurprised by the nomination. Yuthura merely nodded in acknowledgement, while Brianna remained stoic. Masadar was the most surprised by far.

"Me specifically?"

He couldn't help but glance at Dana again. She was smiling back, acting as if she knew all along yet again. It was still an issue that had to wait for when he had time to reason it out with Yuthura and his apparent fellow Council members.

Bastila took her turn to speak up. "You've been raised as Jedi, and your rationale is strong. This isn't a matter of how strong someone is with the Force, or how authoritative that someone is."

Surik nodded in agreement, after another breath, she filled out some of the seats in the display with vague shapes that imitated their counterparts.

Before she could continue, one of the Temple messengers called Bastila away again, who parted with a small gesture to go on in her absence.

"So far, we have Atton and Mira planned for the outer circle, seeing as you both are going to be much better off out in the galaxy acting with Council authority, rather than being required to stay here on a regular basis. The same applies to the other three from whichever group they come from."

"Oh good, I was beginning to feel like you forgot about us."

The tone that Atton had made Surik a little concerned, enough to pause yet again for thought. The worrying thing was that it didn't sound like another sarcastic remark, rather a genuine one.

"I haven't forgotten about anyone. The whole point of forming a Council now rather than waiting for a more well rounded selection is to address the very fact that Bastila and I alone can't keep up with everyone's tasks and assignments for much longer at this rate."

"You could have tried asking before."

From the table, they all heard an exclamation from Bastila. Surik and a few others glanced over, seeing that she was in heated discussion with someone via holocom.

While concerned further, she chose to ignore whatever the other conversation was for the time being. "We wanted everyone else to ease into Jedi life first. Now that things have settled, we can restructure without massive confusion."

She heard Bastila starting to march back over.

"Now, as I mentioned, Grand Master is a courtesy title at this point, what matters is that we both have full confidence in Visas' ability to lead the Order-"

When Bastila made her return to the table known, it was with a fierce slap to the surface that silenced everyone watching. This was one of the few times that she was visibly angry. And that anger was directed right at Surik.

"What the hell did you do to Queen Talia?"

A horrible chill began to settle in. Surik glanced to Visas once, who was barely recovering from the surprise at being named to the Council, and now drawing a hard breath in anxiety about what was about to come out into the open. It was a very good thing that Canderous wasn't there to share in the tension.

The smirk had already vanished, and when Surik finally settled down enough to speak, it was replaced with a strictly cold look.

"This is not the place to discuss it."

"Fuck you it isn't! One chance before I put up that message for everyone!"

Surik's eyes narrowed down. That was particularly harsh for Bastila, and her insistence on it being known to all was just as unusual. Now wasn't the time to call her out.

"Fine. I made an agreement with General Vaklu that ensured Talia and the royalists would not be overthrown when he stepped up to leadership. There is a truce in place on Onderon that guarantees both sides have a real chance to come to their own decision about the future of their world. He was ready to drive the Sith out, so I took the only practical option available at the time."

The anger faded in Bastila, though it was not because she was calming down. It was only giving way to a raw bitterness at the truth she had only just been made aware of.

"If that's how you choose to see it, I think everyone else deserves to hear Xaart's last message, seeing as he's just been found dead on Onderon."

It took one breath for the calm focus to break. A sharp inhale, the flicker of realization that her terms had been broken, even if only to silence one man. Things were about to fall apart, and she had no idea just how catastrophic the outcome was about to be.

"Bastila, whatever you've been led to believe, I have nothing-"

Bastila turned away sharply to link the message into the table's projector. As described, Xaart's image was displayed in front of them all.

"Agent Xaart, I believe they're closing in, I need to keep this brief;

I have strong reason to believe the truce between Queen Talia and General Vaklu is not the result of diplomacy. Vaklu has been deliberate about keeping his men away from Talia and her supporters. And yet, the Queen herself has been showing increasing symptoms of overwhelming paranoia. Some close to her have spoken of nightmares, whispers to herself, and one potential case of a mental breakdown.

None of this was present before Meetra Surik returned. Not a single person recalls this behaviour, even leading up to the assault on the palace.

It's been years since I served under her. I'm not one to judge what kind of effect the devastation of war has on a person, but if she is behind Talia's erratic behaviour, it is entirely possible she has also manipulated the political climate of Onderon. She may have been intent on driving out the Sith, but that does not give her the right-"

By the time the recording ended with Xaart collapsing from a blaster shot right through his head, everyone was painfully silent.

Surik's head lowered a little more, a small gesture closing the hologram back down.

"I'll ask again. What did you do to Queen Talia?"

"You know, barging in with an accusation-"

"Answer the question!"

"-in front of everyone is just beyond disrespectful."

"Answer me!"

The harshness Surik's turn to Bastila was very disconcerting to see. "And to think I was trying my best to protect the Republic from harmful ideas and wild accusations that would worsen the situation. That I was trying to spare you all from becoming involved in this mess."

Bastila's voice lowered back down to a menacing tone. "What did you do?"

With one last glance to Visas, to Atton, Brianna, Mira, Masadar and Yuthura, she sighed at last.

"I used a mind invasion to make her more receptive to Vaklu's proposals." Her hand gripped the table. "I saved thousands of lives! I put an end to a civil war that would have destroyed Iziz! One use of a Sith technique with a vastly positive outcome over letting him murder Talia, Kavar and however many innocent civilians that would continue the revolt!"

The look of disappointment that began to spread made her blood run cold.

"And now you all know. Now you're all privy to information that may damn well undo everything we have worked towards. I'm a dead woman already, it's almost certain I wasn't going to ever come back, that terrible truth would have gone to the grave. But now, it's going to ruin everything…"

Of all the people present, the first to speak up was Atton.

"You didn't listen to a word I said on the Hawk."

He walked away from the table.

"Talia's life has been utterly ruined by this. Onderon may fall anyway, will you be so self-assured then?"

Bastila left shortly after.

Some of the others began to depart without a further word, for the most part trying very hard to not let the feeling of betrayal take root. It was a terrible matter that needed time enough for rational thought and contemplation.

"A loyal agent of the Republic dead, a rightful ruler going mad inside her own mind. Not what I would call a positive outcome."

And that was the last of what Aibrehl had to say.

Brianna had turned away, but only to tangle with the conflict in her mind, showing no intention of leaving just yet. Masadar's hand was spread over his face while he sighed in deep thought of his own.

Even Sereti had lost her brazen edge in the wake of that revelation.

"When I said there was an excessive amount of handwringing over mental manipulation…" For the first time, she actually felt a little speechless. "That doesn't apply to this. Using the dark side for anything is just unacceptable."

With her departure as well, the only one left there not feeling distraught was Visas herself.

"I hate to say this, but at one point I did warn you that not being truly decisive would be an undoing. And I hate that it has come to be true, after all you have taught me about the strengths of showing mercy and compassion."

"Visas, shut the fuck up."

Visas turned her head to Brianna, ready for the follow-up insult that seemed inevitable.

When it didn't come, unless walking off was supposed to be the insult itself, she sighed to herself and did the same.

Surik finally lifted her gaze from the table. So many things had to be considered at that moment. What to do about Xaart's murder, how to keep the Order from falling apart again. What to tell the Senate if Onderon seceded in an aggressive manner.

Whether or not she deserved restful sleep after all.

She remained there while the others wandered off as well, one by one, Dana with a vicious smirk, until only she and Shara remained. And the Mandalorian clearly had words of her own to give.

"Mandalore told me you made an impossible choice that day, that he would have followed you to the end, no matter the side you chose to support. It takes something way beyond guts to stand up and take the third path when it branches in two. For what it's worth, you've got my respect for that. Damn whatever anyone else says."

Surik looked back at her. She hadn't seen a look in someone's eyes for over ten years. The look of respect that truly did transcend any and all differences that existed between them. One warrior leader to another.

"Even if some of them are right?"

Shara lifted her helmet off the table. "Especially if they're right." When she put her helmet back on, she was no longer speaking as Shara Mires, or even just a single Mandalorian. In her position, she spoke for far more than that.

"If the Jedi Order fails to survive because of this event, I and my brothers and sisters will be ready. Ready for the next wave of Sith, the next fallen Jedi, the next threat. The Preserver follows you, and we will as well." She slapped her fist across her heart in a moment of pride that almost immediately fell flat after. "Assuming he succeeds in unifying the clans."

"Assuming? My my, that's not very inspiring of you Mires."

She turned on the spot, matching Surik's gaze across the room as Canderous strode across to the table, helmet tucked under his arm.

"So, am I early or late to the meeting?"

* * *

On Masadar's arrival at the Room of a Thousand Fountains, there were three Twi'lek occupants. He found Rilana waiting for him near the entryway, following behind until they reached Yuthura's location deeper within the room itself.

A bridge overlooked a long cascade of waterfalls, behind them was the rockface of the mountain itself. One of the most tranquil locations in the entire Temple, it was obvious why she had asked them to meet her there.

"I am truly sorry, to both of you. I came here with a wholehearted belief in what the Exile told me, that there would be no more secrets, no more obfuscation. That we would be part of a far more open-minded Jedi Order. And look at what my belief has led to."

Masadar's head lowered a little. He could feel the confusion emanating from Rilana. She had only heard that there was a terrible falling out at the meeting, apparently not what had caused it.

"Talia can still be healed. Influencing emotions is only aspect of what I can do, from what I've been led to believe…" Yet again, he reminded himself that whatever Dana said was purely coincidental. "I think it's within the capability of an empath to make permanent changes. Or perhaps even undo them from other causes, like the mind invasion."

"And then what? Rather than going quietly, Onderon secedes from the Republic in an outburst. Trust in the Jedi Order crumbles from without as well as within."

Yuthura looked to Rilana, her sorrow growing deeper when the younger woman looked away in distress, then looked back to the cascade ahead, still finding no solace in the peaceful view. "I don't know who to be more upset with. Surik for keeping such a terrible secret, or Bastila for acting so damned rashly. That was exactly when not to bring it up."

"Maybe that was the point." Rilana hadn't moved from her position facing away from them, but she was no longer distressed. Just the cold rationale of an outside observer.

"She trusts the two of you, because you are Jedi, kin to her. It took me a while to work out, but when she looked at me, I'm certain she saw an unwelcome reminder of her own personal failings. A scared young woman who can't escape the dark side without a helping hand."

Her hand gripped onto the railing. Just like on Korriban, she was beginning to feel agitated because of Masadar's active influence.

"Stop. I will say what I need to say and be done with it."

The agitation faded enough for her to turn back a little, just in time to see Masadar's hand lowering back to his side. "Either she doesn't want us Sith to settle into the life of Jedi at all, or she thinks that we've been welcomed back too quickly. I don't care if it's overzealousness, or just arrogance on her part, I don't like her attitude. And quite frankly I don't care what Surik did. One of them has done a hell of a lot to make the children feel welcome than the other. That's my only concern."

Yuthura closed her eyes to sigh in admission. "While I haven't observed that behaviour from her myself, I certainly don't recall her trying to help in that regard either. Perhaps I've simply been too preoccupied with trying to get away from everyone."

By then, Masadar had taken his turn to gaze over the gardens before them. The issue at hand was only half on his mind, the other half desperately trying to push lingering memories of his conversation with Dana out. It made coming to an actual conclusion himself near impossible.

"What are we supposed to do then, Rilana?"

"I'm not asking either of you to do anything except ensure that I and the others are protected. Getting comfortable around here is not going to happen anytime soon after all."

"I haven't lost sight of that. Yes I was reluctant at first, but that's the power of female persuasion for you." He glanced to them both in turn. "Twice over."

Yuthura rolled her eyes.

"I'll talk to Bastila when things have calmed down. Fact is I'm still a new face to her, and until there's a rapport I can't promise anything."

"Then don't. Just make sure that she doesn't decide to bring us into the fray and I'll be satisfied. Get her to apologize for being rude and I might begin to think more of her."

Masadar reached up to his chin, holding it in feigned thought. "I think I can handle the former. The latter might require a miracle if she doesn't open up."

Yuthura broke her own train of thought at that, leaning off the railing at last and beginning to make her way back out. "I suggest we avoid referring to this conversation for the time being. Do your best to avoid confrontations or misinterpretations. As far as either of you are aware, the problem is under wraps."

* * *

It wasn't long after entering the seemingly empty cafeteria that Canderous found himself in the presence of Bastila, looking particularly moody. "So, are we going to bother with the pleasantries, or should we get right to the point and be done with it?"

Bastila had to really stop and think about that question, something she hadn't anticipated, but wasn't entirely surprised by either. Well over two months since seeing him in Citadel Station's hospital, and that was after three years of silence since he left for Dxun. Perhaps not a person she actually enjoyed talking to that often, he was still a good friend.

Only now, there was a degree of doubt about whether that remained the case. It was common knowledge to her that he was present at the battle of Iziz, and that subsequently meant he knew about what Surik had done.

"Let's get it over with then. There's still a chance we'll be left with a sliver of respect between us."

"Alright, if that's how you want it." He set his helmet down on a table and leaned back against it, arms folding up. "From what I hear, you messed up bigtime. As described, it sounds awfully like a deliberate smear against her, and that's not like you at all Bastila."

"Oh, I see. Rather than defending your part in the incident with Talia, you've decided to start by putting me to the fire instead. I suppose I should have expected as much from a Mandalorian."

Canderous smirked with a bit of a grunt, hardly fazed by the poor insult. "The way I see it, she made a strategic decision with harsh consequences, and so far she hasn't tried to excuse it. The sign of a confident leader. Pulling a stunt like that in front of others is a very bad sign by comparison. I don't care if the Jedi don't work like a military, you don't make accusations of any kind so brazenly."

The irony of that soon dawned on him. But then of course, Bastila was about as far from the militant mindset as anyone could get. "In any case, this isn't what I expected to see. Actually getting the clans to sit down and stop grabbing for power put me in a good mood. So now I'm being honest and not condescending while I do it."

"Is that meant to be a backhand at me?"

"That depends. Were you expecting an insult, or did you just happen to notice one?"

It finally made Bastila stop and think, even if it began with crushing one of the nearby cups as a means of letting out her frustration. What she had come to expect of Canderous was rather unfavourable, and not at all like the man who had posed such a poignant question to her.

"Can you truly blame me for being on the defensive? I don't understand how Yuthura is able to remain so calm after what she has been through."

"That outburst was not you being on the defensive, don't kid yourself. And since you still haven't answered why it happened, it's about time I ask directly."

After crushing another cup with a gesture, Bastila turned away from the counter to look him in the eye properly. She expected to see the eyes of a seasoned veteran, there to ask the hard questions in a professional capacity. Instead, she saw the eyes of a concerned friend.

"I know exactly what Talia is going through right now. Only it's far worse compared to when Malak broke me. She had no chance against that kind of invasive presence!"

"Actually she put up a decent fight. She has Sith blood in her after all, as does Vaklu." He scoffed again when Bastila turned away with a disgusted sound. "You can act like this is an unforgivable matter all you like. Without citing the obvious example, 'good' people have done far worse in the name of peace. Only Surik had actually achieved it until you kicked the drexl nest back over."

"And how many times are you going to remind me of that?"

"Until you get it in your head that you need to stop this mess from getting out of control. Starting with not hanging around an empty room waiting for people to come berate you. Go berate them first."

When that got nothing out of her, he waved the whole matter off with a small gesture. His helmet went back under his arm, and soon he was on his way to the door at last.

"Perhaps it's long overdue Vaner meets his grumpy uncle, unless you decided to omit tales of the Mandalorian from his bedtime."

While still in great conflict that she was continuing to debate in her head, Bastila did find herself smiling just a little at that. "We'll see. Thank you, Canderous."

"Thank me by pulling it together before it gets out of control. I'm not one for sentimentality."

* * *

Barely five steps onto the balcony, Surik was met with the attitude she had wanted to avoid. Not a good sign at all.

"Don't bother trying to justify what you did. The only thing I'm glad about is finally knowing why you've sidelined me this whole time."

For the first time in a long while, she rolled her eyes. Normally she made a point to herself about not doing it with anything Atton in particular said, but this time it was entirely removed from his usual level of snark and deceit.

"Is this how we're going to be from now on? I can try to be reasonable, or I can get excessive on the insults until you do something we both regret."

"What, like trying to kiss you? You're real full of it if you think that's where this is headed."

She leaned in against the doorway. Atton still hadn't turned around, which was unsettling her more. "I don't need your approval Atton, and it's not why I'm here. I just want to know exactly what to expect from you now that things have changed. Whether it's worth trying to fix this bridge you're ready to burn. And you really are the one holding the torch here."

"How poetic and sanctimonious of you."

After shaking her head, Surik left the doorway to move closer to him. It was starting to feel oddly like a conversation Visas had described to her earlier.

"Bastila takes a sudden turn from supportive to bitchy, and now you've come from facing down Darth Sion alone for my sake to this. I'm starting to wonder if there's something in the food."

"Betrayal hurts, a lot. Joke about it all you like, I'm done convincing myself to look the other way with you."

"Suit yourself. I made my reasons clear, for why I did it and why I kept it secret. See you when this bad mood wears off."

She was barely back inside before coming across Visas. After the soured mood from trying to talk with Atton, even her extended patience for her was wearing thin. "How many discussions am I going to get before the day is out?"

Visas pursed her lips, hand soon resting on her hip in a bit of annoyance. "Why make me Grand Master to begin with? I don't doubt that I can keep things in line once this matter blows over, but that was after you named me for the position."

"Well, quite frankly…"

Surik glanced back over her shoulder, then to either side of the long corridor. It was more for the sake of knowing who was nearby than trying to keep yet another secret, though the fact that no-one else was approaching gave her that comfort anyway.

"Between you and Brianna, I felt you were the better choice for this specific role. She needs the balance between greater freedom to act as well as greater authority in making decisions. That, and I'd much rather have the seer be the one to look for consultation, rather than the one giving it."

"I fail to see the difference."

Surik muttered under her breath. "If you perceive an imminent danger, like an unexpected Sith uprising, I feel it's far better that you also have the final decision on how to proceed. There must be an end to warnings going unheeded."

With a forced smile, she put her hand behind Visas' shoulders and began guiding her in the general direction of the main hall, walking alongside. "I really didn't mean to put you in the centre of this mess. But these things happen. And I have every confidence in your ability Visas. Whatever might be said in these coming days, don't forget that."

"My memory is very good, Meetra. But ability is meaningless without respect. And that may be in short supply."

With one last shrug, Surik slowed in her step with a motion for Visas to continue on her way. "It'll come soon enough. I'm certain."

She waited in that spot a while longer, watching Visas go on ahead. So many questions about her remain unanswered, and yet in spite of the unknown she felt assured as ever.

The Force had saved her on Katarr for a reason. And sooner or later, that reason would become clear. The only downside was that she wouldn't be around for that revelation, nothing she couldn't still live with.

* * *

At the setting of the sun, Dana left the heavily barred window she had been gazing out of, returning to her seat in front of the low table where the candle burned softly. An opportunity had presented itself, and as promised, she had seized it. The opposing ideas had been set in motion, now was the time to make them clash.

Her arms extended out, eyes closing tight, her chest rising slowly with a long inhale. The candle grew taller, casting more of its faint light over her.

She exhaled; the candle flaring into a burst of red.

"Sow the seeds of discord, nurture the growth of mistrust, bear the fruits of anger."

The flame of the candle exploded in a small shower of crackling sparks, but continued to burn bright red.

"Bring down the foundation of fear, the pillars of lies, the ceiling of false supremacy."

Another shower of sparks erupted.

"Divide the Order! Divide the Exile and the Redeemer! Divide and destroy the Jedi!"

The third eruption caused the flame to rise into a full blown blaze. She opened her eyes at last, gazing into the dark core within.

"I make my last prayer, goddess, before the death of my soul. Let my lies, my deceit go unchallenged. Let your new order of followers continue the work I have begun. Let them bring down the Jedi forever. Let them follow in your name, as Vahla."

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon, Surik had been in discussion with just about everyone else at that meeting in turn, Bastila, Sereti and Dana excepted, gathering what they were willing to share on their thoughts about the matter, and offering what reassurances she could under the circumstances.

Most of that was promising that her action was not to become a precedent for any future Jedi, and while some accepted that, others were far less inclined. Quite a few times, she had heard one phrase or another that always boiled down to 'even once is too much'.

It left her in a tense mood when she finally sensed Bastila seeking her out. She had deliberately chosen the highest balcony of the Reconciliation Tower for their inevitable debate. If that attempt at suggestive symbolism failed, she knew of no other way to resolve Bastila's own feud with her.

"No, I didn't come here assuming this was the Tranquility Spire."

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

Surik closed her eyes for a long breath. The tension in her mind that had appeared the night before was stronger than ever now. It had moved on from mere concern over her nominating Visas for Grand Master into a wider worry that Bastila was going to question her every decision. And from the tone in her voice, that worry didn't seem too far off already.

"I'm still not going to apologize. I did what needed to be done, and that's how I'm always going to see it. Xaart's death on the other hand I will deal with in due course."

"Due course?"

When Bastila finally did approach the railing, it was with her arms tightly folded, and a good metre between herself and the very long drop beyond. There was no doubt Surik wouldn't try anything, but under the circumstances she didn't want to take the chance.

And so, her borderline hostile attitude remained. "What due course would that be? Depose Vaklu and make the whole mess a waste that cost a woman's sanity? Slap him on the wrist and let him get away with murder? Or do you intend to let loose some of the more violent Mandalorian clans like Vizsla and Kryze on Onderon to shut them all up?"

"Exaggerating as always."

"Am I really? I'm starting to realize I don't know your way of thinking well at all. Or perhaps I'm just not familiar with the militant mindset."

Surik's lips began to tighten. Her thin patience from the exhausting afternoon was beginning to wear through altogether. And the irritation deep within her mind was continuing to stir.

"What would thinking with actual strategy in mind have to do with any of this?"

Bastila gripped onto her arms harder, making her knuckles pale. She too was feeling an irritation. "Jedi don't sacrifice others for an advantage. I don't care if you think what Talia is going through isn't that bad, it's still wrong, and it very much so crosses one of those lines we agreed to abide by."

There was a tense silence. Surik was fixated on the horizon, trying not to meet Bastila's glare. When she did, it was a small sigh and aversion of her eyes. "While we're at it, why don't you explain why you've been treating Rilana badly? I'm not the only one 'at fault' here."

Eyebrows lowered into a darker frown. The hands relaxed briefly, only to grip around her elbows instead. Less imposing, more defensive.

"Would you want children raised by Sith interacting with one of your own, under the supervision of an actual Sith? She has a long way to go before she can be considered redeemed."

"I don't think she has anything to redeem herself for. But maybe that's the real reason why you told her to leave. 'Unwanted reminder of the past' I believe is how she put it, earlier in the evening."

Bastila took a defiant step forward. "I don't care what she thinks of me. She has only just gotten here, and until she's earned respect my attitude won't change."

"And what about Visas? She's former Sith as well, do you also intend to disregard what she says, if she does go on to be Grand Master?"

A cold gust blew between them. Bastila moved back a little, her arms dropping down altogether as she was caught up in a moment of shock.

"Visas? Of all people, you're making her Grand Master?"

Surik felt herself physically shiver. In the heat of the argument back at the meeting, she had assumed Bastila had heard her proposal, and decided not to bring it up. The lingering concern flared up into a clear warning to herself. More lines were about to be crossed.

There were few things she could say that could possibly keep it all from spiralling downward. She settled for the one that had been on her mind since speaking with Visas.

"Katarr. 472,908 Miraluka. 1284 Jedi. Exactly one survivor. If the Force didn't save her for a reason then everything we believed we understood about it must be fundamentally wrong. How can I just ignore this and put her in some insignificant position?"

"Insignificant…" After turning a half circle, Bastila reached up to her face. In that moment she was genuinely stunned by what she was hearing. "The Jedi are one of the largest, and most powerful independent organizations in the galaxy. Everyone on the High Council is expected to have direct dealings with the Republic Chancellor." She let her breath out in a very exasperated way, turning the other half back to her. "And you think that's an insignificant position?"

"The way you protested sounded a lot like you didn't want her near the Council at all."

"I'm not saying she's completely unproven and incapable. But she is still the last person I would put there."

"Oh come off it Bastila! Would you really want Brianna leading the Council, before she's had experience to temper out and move beyond whatever crap Atris drilled into her head? Would you want Yuthura slowly cracking under the pressure shoved on her shoulders, or Juhani growing restless in a position of authority so high that she feels she's in danger of losing touch with everything she knows? Visas is capable, confident and willing. And she knows better than anyone just how significant the dangers of the dark side are."

Bastila moved in again with yet more exasperation. "Exactly my point! It escapes me how you are still missing it!"

All Surik did was nod. The irritation had grown to annoyance with Bastila by then. And now it was prompting her to take the offense that seemed long overdue.

"Oh, I see your point now. That bit about not wanting to lead the Council? You're backing down on that now I've made my proposal. But what makes you any more qualified? A Jedi upbringing?" She took a threatening step towards Bastila, beginning to lean over her ever so slightly. "A big celebration of victory, praise from the Republic to wipe away the guilt?"

She began to smile when Bastila's expression faltered. It was anything but her contented smirk of peace.

"Visas didn't get to do much in her years as Sith. And yet, your battle meditation killed over two hundred Republic soldiers at least in just one battle alone." The smile grew a little wider, and more malicious. "Come to think of it, forcing a change of mind doesn't sound so bad by comparison. Maybe I was wrong. You weren't judging me unfairly, you were just projecting long buried guilt."

That was enough for Bastila to recognize something was very wrong. And yet, the influence in her mind was driving her to retaliate, not placate.

"Watch what you say Meetra. You killed a lot of Republic soldiers yourself, marching them to their deaths on Dxun."

"Under Revan's orders. Back when he was still a man worthy of respect. Before you got to him."

Bastila wanted to walk out, then and there. And still she remained.

"Don't go there Meetra. Don't you bring him into this."

By then, Surik was revelling in the chance to finally let loose every single thought she had kept well buried. A twisted satisfaction at making it all known, regardless of what it would do to Bastila.

"I'm almost sad I'll have to see what you've turned him into. Picking apart his broken mind, reshaping it into a convenient weapon against Malak. But that's hardly all you did to him."

"Meetra stop!"

She was looming over at that point. All of the frustrations, the anger, and the begrudged thoughts coming to bear.

"All those Jedi rules about chastity from everything. Your inner need to rebel, to just cut loose. And then they give you a shell of a man to mould as needed. Perfect for shaping into what you desired. Someone to fawn over you, push all the right buttons, and satisfy your choking libido."

Her grin faltered back to the familiar smirk at last.

"And in the years I knew Revan, I never once considered getting into bed with him."

She barely even saw the hand coming up. She certainly felt the impact of Bastila's palm smashing into her jaw. The sheer force of the slap made her keel to the right, her left hand swiftly moving up to clench at her face.

By the time she was able to look back up, blood already trickling from the split in the corner of her lip, Bastila was storming off into the Tower itself, already beginning to sob.

Some small part of her was also crying, as if trying to tell her that it had all gone wrong.

And yet, she felt completely validated on the whole matter. The rest of her was glowing with a smug sense of victory. There had been dissent in the Order, and the one at the core of that dissent had crossed the line.

It was simply a matter of waiting for the next day to come, to see what the outcome was.

Who would remain loyal, and who would fall away in their own supposed moral hubris.

* * *

Sleep that night for Surik had been more restless than ever. When it came time to wake, and make her usual tour of the Temple grounds, she quickly came to realize why.

Bastila was gone, Vaner with her almost certainly, and without any message left behind. A quick call to the dock master confirmed that she had left the Temple hours earlier, that Atton and several other Jedi had already joined her. Another call told her of several meetings between those Jedi leading up to their departure.

A quick, clean breakaway, like she had wanted.

Again, she forced herself to dismiss the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Things could only improve without the source of conflict surely.

Little concern was given for the empty feeling that the halls had. Not that many had even left to begin with. The impact would be brief in the grand scheme; what was lost in numbers would be gained in focused ideals.

What she did take notice of was just how many people had begun to shy away when she walked past. Conversations died down quickly, eyes were averted, some even took to holding their breath until she passed by.

The only one who didn't seem adverse to her presence was also one of the few she was genuinely surprised to encounter. From the way she was standing however, it seemed as if Juhani had been waiting for her arrival, gazing up at one of the many statues in contemplation.

"She told me everything that happened. The most anyone else knows is that she left that balcony in tears, that you said things to her that made her break down."

Surik remained stoic.

"They've gone to Dantooine, to reclaim the enclave there, and form a new Jedi Order of their own. Soon, I will follow them."

Juhani turned around, looking about as solemn as she ever had. There was only sadness beneath that. "Bastila needs me. If left alone, she might relapse into a darkness far worse than anything she's experienced. For that reason alone I am going to join her on Dantooine." There was a sharpness to her breath when she drew it. "While I may personally think you went too far, Jedi have to move beyond personal feelings, even if we choose to be less restrictive with them. And things will stabilize in this Jedi Order for her absence, that much seems certain."

After a longer breath of her own, Surik cast her gaze down, now relaxing a little more in her position. "I wasn't looking for yet another argument. Had too many of them already." Her head lifted back up, allowing her to meet Juhani's gaze for just long enough. "If I say anything more, chances are it will be hurtful to someone. Maybe I've overstayed my role in rebuilding the Order, and it's well past time for me to leave."

A small shrug was her response from Juhani.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry we didn't have more time to talk. And I'll leave it at that."

And despite her insistence on not saying more, she couldn't help but ask one last question on her departure.

"If I named you Grand Master instead, would you accept?"

The silence was tense yet again. For once, she didn't know what to expect.

"No, I wouldn't. Not even if I felt it could avoid this mess."

Surik left with one last nod. Her assumption was right after all, there was no better choice to be made.

Little time was wasted afterwards. Final discussions with others in the Order to ensure the handover of responsibility was done. Arrangements for the Ebon Hawk to be loaded with plenty of supplies. A message to Onderon demanding General Vaklu's presence on Dxun when she travelled with Canderous and Shara to settle Xaart's fate, and that of Queen Talia as well.

Her meeting with Carth was dry, but not as uncomfortable as she had expected given how close he was to Bastila. He understood the proper code of conduct in such matters after all.

Some further reassurances made to the Chancellor himself that Onderon seceding from the Republic was to be as painless as possible, and her best attempt at explaining why Bastila would no longer be serving on the Council as expected.

The farewell to those in her crew broke through even her recently hardened composure. Atton's absence stung badly, despite her earlier dismissal of his attitude. Even Brianna was brought to admission of very slightly missing his presence.

Canderous was quick to make his way to the Ebon Hawk with utterances about overbearing sentimentality. She found him there later in friendly chatter with Mission and Zaalbar, having arrived expected to both see her off and meet the reformed Council.

It was a hard process indeed to bring them up to speed on what had happened. And despite the smiles and pleasant words, she knew there was a diminished happiness between them for it.

The only one of them all who seemed most optimistic was HK-47, quite surprisingly.

"Relieved exasperation: Oh goodness, it is so pleasing to know we are finally leaving this wretched world of meatbags behind. I have sorely anticipated the battles that lie ahead."

By then they were on the departing vector from the Temple, Shara in the pilot's seat for the trip to Dxun while the others were situated around the common room.

Canderous had given a hearty scoff at that. "I hear you've been very quiet lately, droid. I was almost starting to worry you'd gone and blown a fuse over not getting to kill anyone. Imagine that."

"Assurance: Your worries are not warranted. If you do not recall our earlier escapades together, and that would hardly surprise me, I remind you that I have had to deal with overly pacificistic individuals before. This is hardly enough to drive me towards self destruction!"

"But the thought of people kissing is?"

"Disgust: Please, do not remind me of that again."

There was another scoff from Canderous, who quickly gestured his hand for a stay of peace. "Don't worry, I'm not a fan of it myself. All I'm saying is it's hard to think of even more petty reasons to end it all than what you babble about."

"Assertion: I do not babble! I have many complaints that remain unrectified, and on occasion I choose to voice them, nothing more!"

"Oh, and here I was thinking your whole purpose was 'rectifying problems and problematic people'. Guess my memory is as bad as you make it out to be."

With a hearty laugh, he got back onto his feet and shoved past HK-47 on his way to the cockpit. "Have fun with that Surik. Well worth it if you ask me."

HK-47 looked to her immediately.

She looked back, made a bemused smile, and promptly got up to make her way over to the portside bunk room without a word to the droid.

There was a good minute of waiting in the curved corridor itself before finally coming around and stepping into the room.

It was so easy to visualize Kreia there, deep in meditation, ready to answer whatever questions came with her usual level of mysterious cynicism and 'wise-sounding' opinions.

"Guess you were right in some ways after all. About Atton, the other Jedi, myself perhaps."

Like she had done so often before, she got down on the floor, cross-legged, hands coming to rest on her knees. The empty space ahead stared back at her.

"I know I'm right about Visas. If she were kept alive by the dark side, she wouldn't have turned away from it so easily."

Instead of some snide, cryptic remark, the reply was the faint hum of the ship's engines.

"Bastila has only herself to blame for not seeing that. They all need to get over their own ego, and accept that we are as much servants of the Force as we are wielders of it."

 _Who would have thought it possible, that someone of your experience could become so hypocritical?_

For a few moments, Surik was startled, until she realized it was just her own mind filling in the ambient hum with what she assumed would be the response.

"I'm having arguments with my projection of a long dead woman already. And it's barely been fifteen minutes since we left."

 _Are you now?_

She gasped audibly when a different woman materialized in front of her. After a few seconds, she recognized the other as herself, which confused her a lot more.

The other lifted her head, revealing three distinct markings across her eyes and down the middle of her face.

"Bastila betrayed you by not delivering the warning from Revan. So, I give it to you now while I still can."

Surik's hand was already reaching for her lightsaber, on the off chance she had to protect herself given how unlikely it was that she could strike the apparition.

"Normally I'd listen, but when imaginary voices take form…"

Her other self tilted her head to the left, looking solemn as ever. The grey marking began to glow softly.

"You still have time to turn away from this path. Do not go to Dromund Kaas. Do not look for Revan. And above all else, do not seek out the Sith. That is my warning to you, Meetra Surik of Dantooine, the Exile."

And she was gone just as quickly as she had appeared.

The hum was interrupted by Surik's tapping on the top of her boot that continued until she abruptly stood up.

"I left exile months ago, and even imaginary people are still calling me that."

* * *

 _Two months later…_

Even in the isolation of her cell, word had eventually gotten to Atris about Bastila's abrupt departure, thanks in part to the unexpected delay of her trial. And oddly enough, that delay had not pleased her in the slightest. If anything, it added an extra layer of uncertainty that came with more time to think about what had transpired. The Council she had expected to stand before was no longer possible. More unknown faces, more unpredictability, more reason to be concerned.

"Sorry it's taken this long for me to thank you."

Her eyes flicked open. At first, there was confusion. It quickly turned to horror when she saw a familiar face outside the door of her cell.

"By the living Force!"

She lashed her hand out towards the distress button, only to find it halted in place by a gesture from Dana.

"Don't call the guards. Few people know who I really am, I want to keep it that way." She released Atris' hand for a moment, waiting to see if she would press the button anyway. When she didn't, instead composing herself and rising to her feet, Dana smiled. "Better. I'm glad to see you still recognize me."

Atris frowned deeply. By then she had come to meet Dana's gaze from within the cell. For the first time, she wanted nothing more than to have their positions reversed. She was clearly quite vulnerable in there.

"Forty four years. You've barely aged a day."

"You were there when they put me in cryostasis, Atris. What did you expect?"

At that, she went silent again. What an utterly stupid observation for her to make. Were she not feeling rather terrified at that moment, she might just have cursed herself for it.

"Struggling with the guilt then? I wonder, is it because you feel responsible for the slaughter of Jedi, or of my people by Jedi? I'd really love to know which one hurts more…"

"Don't bother, Suroni. I fully expect to find myself at the blade of an executioner, seeing as I'm to be tried by a native of Katarr. I highly doubt you'd violate whatever sanctuary you've been given just to hurt me before that end."

That brought on a familiar wicked grin from Dana. "There's a few things I need to cover it seems, so be patient. First, I'm in no danger of losing protection here. Shan and Surik didn't even realize they were being driven apart, I doubt if any of these lightweight Jedi will be able to sense what I do to you."

She dragged a nail across the thick glass between them. While it left no mark, the sound was incredibly grating to the occupant. "Second, Suroni will be a dead name in a few weeks anyway. So you should get used to calling me Dana Lauran."

For a moment, the fear Atris was experiencing was swept away by a rush of anger.

"How dare you! You have no right to take her name!"

"She's long dead, forgotten by the Order. And believe it or not, I do miss her. Consider it the only way I can honour her memory and not sicken myself."

Her nail lifted away from the glass so that she could gesture her hand again. A piece of physical paper within the cell itself combusted in such a way that left no trace, and nothing that would set off any alarms.

Atris took the point with a deep swallow. "Then, I assume third is the reason why you're here to 'thank' me. Correct?"

The grin settled back into a smile, but didn't lose any of its malicious nature.

"You planted the seed of discord between them. Perhaps to you a statement. To Bastila, a suggestion. And to the powers of Vahl herself, a way into the minds of the two most important Jedi in the galaxy."

A chilled breath escaped Atris' paling lips. She nearly fell over when stepping back in shock. "That's impossible… We destroyed Vahl!"

"Is that what they told you? Dear Atris, I escorted Vahl's Ember off Coruscant myself. And the idiot Jedi didn't even realize. I can assure you, she's very much alive."

Atris finally turned away, a hand clutching at her throat as she found herself struggling to breathe out of pure terror. All those deaths, Vahla and Jedi alike, for an empty victory that had been undone altogether at last.

And even worse, she could already tell Dana had more to say. Her expression practically oozed a sense of having entire control over the situation.

"I also took the time to sneak by the holocron vault. And while you did an impressive job with recreations, enough to fool all the Jedi who have encountered them it seems, I do know a bunch of fakes when I see them. Something I'm assuming was meant to screw them over after your supposed demise. And that would be what stops you from exposing the truth to the Council when you meet with them, no?"

A withering sigh came from the cell. Cornered, cut off from every option that came to mind, and now entirely at the mercy of an enemy she couldn't do anything about.

Up until the moment something stuck out to her at last.

"What did you mean by 'Suroni will be a dead name'?"

There was a hint of relief when it made Dana's smile fade. And that relief was utterly dashed when the smile came back with a shrug accompanying it.

"It seems you caught me out on that one. I can't blackmail you if I don't remember who you are after all. So I guess there's only one option left…"

She took a step away from the glass, her arms beginning to rise.

Atris took a panicked breath, reaching for the button again. This time, her arms were forced against her sides and held there.

"Don't do this!"

"Pathetic attempt at pleading. Goodbye Atris."

There was one last scream as the entire space within the cell erupted into a raging inferno, casting a fiery glow over Dana as she watched in delight.

The panic continued even after she woke up in a startled manner, very much intact and not burned in the slightest. Experience with the Sith holocrons had taught her well enough to recognize dreams and visions for what they were. And that was far from a fevered dream induced by her growing worries.

"Atris, it's time."

With the back of her left hand resting against her forehead, she slowly looked to the cell door. The captain of the Jedi Guards had unlocked it. Two guards stood to each side of him, weapons ready but inactive.

She didn't waste time in getting up and making her way over to the door, doing her best to remain as calm as possible. An incredible challenge given that she now knew Vahl was ready to incinerate her if she spoke a word out of line.

"Who can I expect to be there?"

The captain remained silent, opening the door with a motion until she stepped out, leaving it to close itself while he gestured to the way out.

"No cuffs?"

Again he was silent, as were all the guards. None of them were reaching for any kind of restraint.

"Let's get this over with then."

Not far into the long walk from the detention centre to the Council chamber, she noticed the lack of other Jedi going about their day. In fact, some guards were deliberately stationed in otherwise frequently used hallways, facing away from her.

Deliberate steps to avoid putting her through a walk of shame?

It did actually help ease the concerns held, not being made to feel humiliated. Such a thing would be petty. Something she would have very well done herself to others in another age. She very nearly made Surik go through it all those years ago.

That idle line of thinking left her distracted right until they arrived at the Council floor itself. She had only a moment to catch her breath before the doors slid open at last.

Directly ahead sat Visas herself, looking quite calm and composed. The Twi'lek man she guessed was Masadar was to her left, and to his sat Mira. On the right, Yuthura awkwardly looking away, and a new member from Vandar's species that she had yet to meet.

Five Council members. Brianna, Atton, Juhani and Bastila herself were all gone.

"So, you're Atris?"

Atris herself glanced to her direct left. A very young Miraluka woman was leaning against the doorway there. The uniform was obviously Luka Sene.

"Here to see justice done for Katarr?"

Sereti's lips curved into more of a scowl, a hand brushing up past some of her locks to adjust her visor. "If you haven't noticed, all the guards here are Luka Sene as well, until we get proper Jedi to replace them. I'd watch what you say around us."

After another swallow, Atris looked to the guard captain. He glared back from behind the mask in such a way that confirmed it to her. Through the tiny slits, she saw no eyes.

"We are ready for her."

Once the captain had moved aside, she proceeded on her own, now feeling the full weight of being on the other end of the Council's judgement. Whatever she might have felt on the way over, she fully intended to face them with her dignity intact.

As expected, Visas was first to speak.

"Brianna didn't believe she could face you in this way, and so, she chose to abstain from any decision made here today."

"That would explain why she has refused to visit even once, I assume?"

Visas' lips tightened, as did her grip on the chair while sitting up a little more. "Let me make this clear. I am not presiding over this trial as Visas Marr, as a survivor of Katarr…"

She could hear Sereti's gasp of shock from across the room, choosing to ignore it for the time being. It was the right time to tell her, so that there would be opportunity for her to contemplate it properly..

"Or as anyone with any personal stake in your behaviour over the past decade. You are still welcome to challenge my impartiality when the deliberation is done, but I would strongly suggest you hear what we have to say once you have made your statement."

The formality of it surprised Atris quite a bit. Not even a trace of bitterness or contempt to be found in her tone. She had either truly put her feelings aside, or was expertly concealing them.

Whatever the case, it mattered little at that moment.

"If I were to defend my actions as being for the good of the Jedi, I doubt even I would believe that. I have no delusions about the fact that my attempt to draw out the Sith was a catastrophic mistake, even without knowing the true nature of Darth Nihilus.

And yet, the fact remains that I have helped the Order endure through one of its most tenuous phases, hanging on the brink of total destruction for so long. I will not apologize for what you might see as obstruction, when it was always a matter of preservation for me. It has long been my responsibility to ensure that wholesome ideals are maintained amongst the Jedi, and that we do not allow mistakes to be repeated."

She took a much needed breath, keeping her demeanour very calm. By then, she had sensed Masadar's unique presence, and knew enough to avoid any kind of reaction with him on watch.

"I admit I should have been more vigilant about facing the true threat that Darth Traya posed. That I should not have let myself become any kind of comfortable in the presence of the holocrons. But I will continue to maintain that my intent has never wavered once. I do not want to see the Jedi fall apart completely."

As decided earlier, Yuthura was next to speak for the Council, her earlier apprehensions put aside for the time.

"Some expressed a concern that you would not be so reasonable; it is very reassuring to see that our hopes have not been unwarranted. While it may take several years, perhaps decades to earn back the trust and respect you once held, we do hope you will commit to reform, rather than withdrawal from the Order."

She glanced past Visas to Masadar, who had begun to lean on his right arm while he held his chin in thought. From the moment Atris had entered the room, he had felt her unmistakably controlled calm, and while concerning to a degree, he now had to ignore it in lieu of his segment of the speech.

"It has already been agreed that a period of penance must be settled. How long this will last is to be determined once we have reached a final decision in due course. It is a condition that all returning Sith and Dark Jedi have agreed to submit to, when necessary, as part of their own reformation. The alternative is prolonged confinement. There will be nothing in the way of invasive procedures or techniques any longer."

After a small breath, he turned to Mira, who very briefly rolled her eyes.

"Facts are that whatever you intended, some of the blame lies with you, and we won't brush that away. Being influenced by the holocrons is the only concession we're willing to make on what you did following the moment Meetra set foot on Citadel Station, and it's a small one believe me. There's no way you're getting a full pardon when this is all over, but you're also welcome to try. It might just help your case with the Luka Sene."

Atris couldn't help glancing over her shoulder at both Sereti and the captain, before looking back again in time for Utan's turn.

"I've spent a good while studying the Jedi ways, the customs and guidelines. The conclusion I and the others reached is that we alone are not fit to pass judgement in this situation, so, the Luka Sene will have a collaborative role in the trial ahead. If you have an objection to this, or would nominate a representative, it would be wise to do so quickly."

At last, the mantle returned to Visas, still composed as ever in her place. "You and the others on the old Council passed judgement on Revan, Meetra Surik, and the hundreds of Jedi that went to fight in the Mandalorian Wars before they even had a chance to defend themselves. That is not a practise we will allow going forward. So we intend to see that every one of your actions has been properly examined before the final decision. I suggest you prepare yourself for the coming weeks."

"Weeks?"

"There is a lot to cover. I wouldn't recommend leaving anything out when seers are the one asking the questions."

For a brief moment, Atris had a flicker of panic. The warning about Vahl's presence was suddenly very relevant. And despite her best efforts to keep it suppressed, it was obvious Masadar had picked up on that.

"If being meticulous is the way forward, so be it. I will cooperate."

"Good. We begin in the afternoon. Until this is over, your confinement is moved to this level of the Temple. Make the most of it."

Visas gestured to the guards, who moved back into escort position around Atris and led her out of the Council chamber. A small period of silence followed her departure before the six remaining occupants of the room finally relaxed enough to leave their spots.

"I think that went about as well as any of us could have hoped."

Masadar was about to bring up his concerns, but stopped himself when Visas moved away to converse with Sereti. In the end, it could wait a few hours anyway.

He instead was able to catch Yuthura's attention, knowing quite well just how difficult the experience had been for her personally.

"Doing alright?"

"Yes, better than I expected of myself. I suppose my formerly high opinion of her has recovered a little more for it."

With a small smile, Masadar clapped her shoulder in support. "It was a good call to take a gentle approach. She was reserved, but not closed off. Might just be enough to convince some of the other old Masters to come back at last."

"Perhaps." After a small sigh, she began to slowly walk from the others, wanting a bit more quiet so they could speak comfortably. "Without the Sesk'nabsilai, we're going to need the extra help."

"I thought you didn't like them to begin with?"

Yuthura shrugged in a belated way, soon coming to a stop once they were a good distance off. "They follow archaic tradition, but they are still good people. Our people." She took her turn as observer when Masadar's attention wandered. "Thinking about Dana Lauran, or Rilana?"

"I don't know. Dana should wake up sometime this evening, I think I've got the series of events that need to be imprinted on her all sorted in mind. Quite frankly I still have doubts about that plan of hers. It always felt like she was goading me into a bad decision."

"You could do far worse than settling with Rilana. She's growing fond of you, mostly the support you're giving to the children."

His expression grew weary. Though this time, it was not because of having to care for the children, rather that he had come to so greatly.

After a sigh of his own, and a glance back at the others, he turned away for a bit more privacy to make his concern known. "Are we really sure this is the right move? Training them to fight Sith so that they can train future Jedi children in turn? It's still weighing heavily in my mind."

"Good, it's not something any of us should be content with. When we're dealing with a pattern that led to Exar Kun, constantly questioning our own decisions is exactly what needs to happen if we are going to avoid repeating that mistake."

"That makes me feel even more uncertain, but I understand your point."

Yuthura smiled herself when she took the opportunity to return the show of support. "You're a model new age Jedi. Always seeking the opinion of others without being a bother about it, showing true compassion and kindness for those in need. Don't ignore the hard questions, but don't let them overwhelm you either."

With one last sigh, he allowed himself to relax and accept the advice given. "I'm sure I'll find that balance eventually. Thank you Yuthura."

* * *

In the moments before waking, several images flashed through her's mind.

She barely had time to make sense of them before she found herself standing up in a daze, wandering around a dimly lit room. When she noticed a second occupant, a blue man with big tendrils growing out of his head, the most she did was blink in confusion.

There wasn't the faintest clue of who she was or where she was in her mind.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Through hazy vision, she could see the blue man getting up from the chair he had occupied. His hand lightly touched her arm to guide her to a different chair, one that looked and felt far less cushioned than the one he had just come from.

"I'm here to help. In short, there was an accident that caused some severe memory loss. But you're among many friends who are ready to help you in due course."

She blinked again, then groaned as a headache began to set in. All of her body felt sore, and already there was a great sense of overwhelming things around her.

"Take this at your own pace. Breathe slowly, don't try and hold onto whatever comes to mind yet."

She breathed in, letting another painful flash go by, then breathed out. To her surprise, the headache was beginning to subside.

"That's better. Just keep doing that when the pain comes. One step at a time."

Several minutes were spent doing just that, breathing slowly, letting her headache subside, and her vision recover more. After a while, she could see the man much more clearly. He had a somewhat plain, but noticeably comforting face, and his attire looked familiar.

"Who…"

"I'm Masadar'Arani, a Jedi Knight. And you're Dana Lauran, a new padawan in the Order. All will be explained over the course of your recovery. I promise you that."


	39. Rivers of Tears to Drown In

From the moment they exited hyperspace, all Maarani could think about was what waited for them on Dantooine. The light shade of green lying ahead was so different from what she had seen on other postings, especially the darker, almost bluish tones of Sarka.

She knew from stories that it was a world of grassland and rolling hills. And yet it was difficult for her to truly picture it in her head. So completely removed from the orange caves and canyons of Ryloth, Mandalore's sprawling cities encased by thick forest, or Mirial's mountainous hot springs.

" _Arriving vessel, we have you on sensors, please identify._ "

Maarani glanced to Dana on her right before switching on the comm relay.

" _Distant Star_ here, I realize we're not scheduled to arrive, would've called ahead but…" She bit her lip. Was it better to tell them of the dangers following them, or keep it secret so they wouldn't become involved? "We uh, kinda forgot. I'm here with two Jedi, we'd like to visit the enclave, if that's alright?"

" _You'll want to head towards Khoonda then. Relaying the details and lock-on signal now. Travel safely._ "

The guidance computer brought up the planned trajectory shortly after, which she noted to memory quickly.

"I feel like if I say 'that was easy' I'll be chewing those words within two hours."

Jayden rolled her eyes and quickly departed the cockpit. "We will be safe here, I assure you. Dress appropriately."

"Dana didn't like my navy coloured robes when I put them on."

"Teegs I said nothing of the sort."

"Whatever." Her attention settled on making the entry course to Dantooine itself. At some point, Izan left his seat to presumably change as well, leaving the two of them alone at last.

A rare opportunity for Maarani to speak freely.

"I'm still not letting Zariba go. And I don't want any puffed up Jedi at the enclave telling me what to do about her. Okay?"

Dana shrugged at that. "If I haven't made it clear, my word will carry very little weight with them. I supported Surik, as did your parents, and that kind of divide doesn't fade easily. But I can try, so long as you do the same in not overreacting."

As had happened more often, Maarani took that in stride. No back talking, no sarcastic remarks. "I'm already trying. But sometimes, I just want to scream until I pass out from how utterly screwed my life has become. I hate being like this."

"I know, Teegs. It's good that you are making the effort to take back control. Don't falter now."

The rest of the descent went quite smoothly. Within minutes, the rolling hills of grass came into view, and then a sprawling lake fed by several winding rivers that weaved around. By the time they had passed through the upper atmosphere, Khoonda itself was visible to the north of the lake itself. There were quite a few noticeably new buildings dotted around the original spaceport. The enclave was north west of the port itself.

"They've really bounced back huh? A lot of this looks different from a holo I saw one time."

While on the deceleration path, they had a good view of the enclave itself. It too had a few new buildings extending off the courtyard. The original structure had been expanded upwards by at least two floors, and she could barely make out the very top of an apparently immense tree growing up through the middle.

For all her deep seated distaste for Bastila as a whole, even Dana was in awe of the place. "It is impressive, I'll grant them that."

There was a small wait for landing approval, which Maarani used entirely to get a better look at the rest of the place, before finally bringing the _Distant Star_ down to the ground at long last. After so long in deep space, the sensation of real gravity was wonderful to experience.

And then the obvious questions came to mind.

"Should Izan come along? I think we can trust Cecile enough to stay and warn us if Zariba or someone else does something sneaky while we're at the enclave, but it wouldn't hurt for him to watch as well. And should I really get changed into those robes?"

"He can come back to the ship if he feels uncomfortable. I doubt they're going to bar him from entering, so he has the choice." Dana looked over Maarani's attire again while finally leaving her seat. "Don't wear the robes, not until we know what the attitude here is like. You have other outfits surely?"

"Apart from the dinner dress? I suppose I can find something."

She too left her seat once the way was clear. By then, Izan had already changed back into the outfit he had bought on _Twa'janii_. While it now looked tacky without the context in mind, it was still a step up from the Czerka jacket that smelled of alcohol.

"I was gonna see about getting some other supplies we had to pass up back at Ord Lagaran. Maybe hang around the cantina when that's done."

Dana was quick to nod in approval. "Sounds fine. I don't think we'll be here longer than two nights at most. Just don't cause a scene."

Maarani's expression lowered a little again. Causing a scene was exactly something she was likely to do just by being a face others would recognize. For once, she was quick to notice herself and let the concern slide.

"If anyone asks about me, just brush them off, okay? I really don't want attention on me when the Senate announce their decision."

The arm placed around her shoulders by Dana brought an unexpected comfort. A reminder that she still had friends looking out for her that she apparently needed more than she first thought.

That moment quickly changed when Jayden returned to the common room. She was now entirely free of her armour, dressed in Jedi robes instead, and for a few moments looked far more stunning than Maarani had ever guessed was possible of her. Somehow, nicely fitting cloth and hair hanging loose around her head made her look genuinely attractive.

It took a confused-turned-disapproving glare from Jayden herself to snap out of the dumbfounded gaze she had settled into.

"I am married, happily, to a man you know."

Dana's arm fell away very quickly at that, though her disdain was not for Maarani in the slightest. "Real diplomatic there Jayden. Why don't you go and tell her to-"

After turning her glare to Dana, which cut the insult short, Jayden softened back up in her return to Maarani. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be offensive. It just made me uncomfortable."

"Uh, no kidding. I'm feeling a little weird about it myself now." She glanced at Izan, who couldn't look any more awkward if he tried. "I guess I'm sorry you had to see that too. Let's just pretend it never happened."

By the time she had changed into a less scruffed outfit, and remembered to retrieve her lightsaber for questions she intended to ask later, she had indeed forgotten about the matter, as had the others while they waited outside. The landing pad was surprisingly active, with people unloading a ship to their direct left, and what appeared to be performing some upgrades on another beyond that.

"Izan, think you could have a word with that maintenance crew over there when you get a chance? They should have a better shield generator than what we've got at least."

"I'll see what I can do. Maybe they'll give Jedi a better price."

The four continued on into the settlement itself, where the level of activity rose quite a bit. There had to be a hundred people at least bustling around the main market square, and half that in droids of varying sorts.

"We just passed what used to be the Matele estate. Last time I was here, they were moving the admin into the new hall over there." Jayden gestured to a large building right across the marketplace, situated just to the left of a long road that seemed to go right down to the lakefront. It was all a far cry from the small village it had been twenty years earlier.

Izan left the small procession as soon as he found what he was in search of, which surprisingly wasn't the cantina after all.

Maarani really couldn't care less at that moment. Once the enclave grounds had come into view, the lightsaber tucked under her jacket felt a lot heavier. Twice now she had almost come clean with a truth she didn't understand herself. Only now she truly had the confidence to see it out in a calm setting.

"Jayden, is it still technically an enclave if it's been amalgamated into the settlement? The Temple on Coruscant isn't technically an enclave because of all the other non-Jedi employed there, right?"

"That would depend on how Bastila sees it. I think Master Marr kept calling it that because she didn't want the validation of calling it a new temple."

"And Master Pala?"

After a sigh, Jayden carefully brushed her hair back to properly look Maarani in the eye. "She really doesn't like Bastila. I don't know if anyone other than herself really knows why, from what I hear she used to be brash about e _veryone_ in the Order. Now it's just any Jedi on Dantooine."

They crossed over the small bridge linking the enclave to the settlement, the water below notably pristine on its way down to the lake. It was there that she asked one last question before they entered earshot of the other Jedi, who had already begun to take notice.

"And you don't like her either Dana, right?"

She stopped immediately at that, her hands cupping around her face for a moment. It was such an inevitable question, and yet having it posed at last made her wish to be anywhere else. And since it was entirely likely Bastila herself would expose any lie she made up…

"Maarani, do you know what Bastila did to Darth Revan? The real story, how they created a new personality in him?"

Maarani nodded sagely. At the time, she didn't quite understand why her father was so upset when telling her the story. And now she had a very bad feeling that she was going to understand why at last.

"It was only four years ago I found out... " Dana took an affirming breath, her hands dropping down to clasp both Maarani's shoulders, to support them both. "Master Pala told me Bastila and Surik gave me the same treatment. That I'm only mentally thirty years old, the rest of me is well over a hundred by now or something."

She could hold back enough of the truth, enough to avoid hurting her further, if only for a while until it was truly necessary. "I've spent those four years trying to piece together my memories of that time. I don't even remember a thing about who I was before, there was nothing in hard records. I'm far from ready to forgive either of them for it."

And then came the one lie she could get away with. "I still don't know who I even was before then. I don't know why they felt I was worth… erasing away like that. That's why I only have contempt for her."

Perhaps a few months ago, if Dana had told her when they were on Telos in the arctic base, she might just have been brought to the point of tears over such a gut-wrenching revelation. After everything that had already happened, all the things she had learned in that time, she just closed her mouth with a firm look she still struggled to keep.

"Should I just shut up from now on?"

Dana managed just a hint of a smile before releasing the hold on her. "It was well overdue I told you, as my padawan, and as my friend. I suppose it'd be a bit stupid of me to ask now that you don't let my personal issues damage your view of her?"

Maarani glanced at the enclave again. By then, some of the resident Jedi had apparently decided to come and greet them, and were drawing closer now.

"Stupid yes, but I'll try anyway."

With just time enough for a glance to Jayden that made it clear they would talk later, Dana turned her attention at last to their approaching counterparts.

The effective leader opened his arms slightly in greeting, a warm smile on his face. He looked particularly Jedi-like with his shoulder length hair and pointed goatee.

"It's been a long time Jayden. What brings you to the grounds of the Reformed?"

"That it has, Vaner." Jayden glanced over to Maarani quickly. "I'm on protection duty for my friend here, Tegama. She has a request to ask of your mother."

Maarani drew a sharp breath at that, more about actually meeting Vaner than being put on the spot. If anything, it actually assured her that she wasn't going to be brushed aside.

"I'm looking for Yuthura Ban, and I assumed that this would be the better place to start my search." After another breath, she tightened her fists up a little. "I'm not sure I'll be welcome in the Republic for much longer, you see."

Vaner himself was quick to make the connection, soon recognizing the real person from what he had seen as a hologram. His warm demeanour remained unchanged. "You have nothing to fear, Tegama'Arani. Republic politics are of no concern here."

He nodded to the Jedi that had accompanied them, who for the most part were merely curious about the arrival of their counterparts, and knew to return to their activities when requested. Once they had dispersed, he motioned for the trio to continue on, moving into step beside Maarani.

"I feel as if you are vaguely familiar to me, I noticed it as well when you made your empowering speech to the galaxy. A relative I may have seen in childhood perhaps?"

"Probably my father, Masadar. From what I hear, my mother didn't get along with Bastila, so I doubt you met her."

"That is unfortunate."

He nodded to some of the Masters observing the grounds outside the courtyard, where some Mandalorians of all people were training in combat forms with young men and women. Noting Maarani's surprise, his smile formed into a bit of a grin. "After Jayden's time here, more Mandalorians sought the peaceful life offered. We train in defensive forms strictly, and I do not mean that as any slight against the Jedi on Coruscant."

"I've spent some time on Mandalore itself, gotten to know people, just seeing them work so closely with Jedi is a little weird. I thought Jayden was a unique case."

"More like a trendsetter, though I'd rather not be described as such."

They rounded the corner where the fountain lay soon enough. Several children were perched up on the lawn wall watching an instructor on the other side of the path demonstrate meditative forms that were not unlike what Dana had taught her at all.

"A lot of families have come to Khoonda to allow their children to train with us. It has helped both the Reformed and the settlement grow, and provided the Republic with a generation of diplomats, healers, counsellors and advisors already. All voluntary of course, we do still have some agreements with the Order's ideals."

"Right…" For once she caught herself out, waiting until they were near the entry hall before explaining herself. "Sorry, I know you really mean well, I guess I'm a little too used to switching off after so many military tours. It's a hard habit to get over."

Vaner chuckled softly at that. "No need, this a habit of mine as well. I often give tours of the place to prospects and their families, it's a lot rarer that we have guests with different intentions."

Just inside, they came across the base of the tree that Maarani had noticed from the approach to Khoonda. Despite its size, the bark looked quite young indeed.

"We're not sure what spurred its growth to this day. Just another mystery of Dantooine."

She shrugged, giving an appreciative nod at the swift answer to her unvoiced question. "Reminds me of the trees back home actually. They get larger than some starships. Maybe not Kashyyyk big, but somewhere up there."

After finally moving around the immense tree, he led them down a small corridor to a newly furbished part of the building, quite reminiscent of the Council chambers on Coruscant and Telos. In the middle were several older Jedi, two of which Maarani already began to recognize.

"Mother, Jayden Mires has returned with Tegama'Arani and…"

In an awkward moment, Vaner glanced to Dana. It hadn't yet occurred to him that she had deliberately avoided being asked the question.

She wanted to announce it herself.

"Dana Lauran."

By then, Bastila was half turned, ready to greet an old student, and meet the daughter of a man she had met a long time ago. All that was swept away by the mention of a name she never thought would be heard again.

"They let you off Coruscant after all?"

"Charming as always, Bastila. We speak in private, if at all. I'm here for Teegs' sake and that reason alone."

To prove her point, she broke away from the procession to take an observer's seat right near the doorway, keeping her gaze strictly on Bastila.

She herself glanced to Juhani, who proceeded on with the discussion so that Bastila could greet the others properly. "I suppose I've had less warm receptions from familiar faces. It's good to see you again Jayden, and to meet you Tegama."

Maarani extended her hand to meet Bastila's, trying very hard not to glance at the two cybernetic fingers that had been spliced into it, having replaced what used to be her middle and ring. In noticing all that, she realized she had stared anyway, and immediately looked up in panic.

"Sorry. It's uh, nice to meet you at last. Met Mission and Zaalbar already, they told me a lot."

"Oh I'm sure she did." She let Maarani's hand go, putting her own out of sight to try and put the young woman at ease. "So, what brings you to Dantooine?"

"Uh, well, I'm actually hoping to find Yuthura. Jayden suggested we come here, and I assumed you might be able to help look for her. I can't really stay long."

After listening intently, Bastila gave a knowing nod. "Something that must be discussed more then." She glanced over at Dana, still glaring away, before looking back to her. "Would you prefer a sitting or walking conversation?"

Maarani took her turn to glance at Dana. She was still quite displeased, but there was a sense that she had no intention of getting in the way whatever the decision was. As she had implied on the bridge.

"Whatever works. I guess I wouldn't mind seeing more of the, uh, place?"

"Then that is how we can proceed. Fortunately things have been quiet lately, I have time enough to spare." After motioning towards a staircase back out in the left corridor, she turned to Jayden with a look to Vaner. "You're all free to move about the place as you please, and there are guest quarters if you plan to stay the night."

"We'll be fine sleeping on the ship. Although we do have a Zeltron man in our crew by the name of Izan, he might come here at some point. It's possible he'll be…" Jayden chewed her tongue. "Inebriated."

"It would hardly be the first time. Vaner will see to any other needs you might have."

"Of course mother."

While they dispersed again, Bastila continued on to where Maarani had ended up at the bottom of the stairs. "We have a serenity garden on the upper floor that is often used for this kind of discussion. It is private enough, and offers a lot of the calming effects that the gardens in the Coruscant Temple offer."

"I never got to visit them, actually. This sounds nice."

The pair made their way up there in relative silence, Bastila occasionally stopping to greet some that passed by, sometimes with a further word about matters Maarani deliberately avoided eavesdropping on. When they got to the serenity garden at last, bathed in white to further accentuate the lush greens and other colours of the plant life, she stopped again to let Maarani past.

"I could tell you had concerns on your mind that you were unsure about sharing in front of others. I assure you, I maintain very strict confidentiality when needed."

Maarani's lips tightened in a moment of irony, at least until she had time to become accustomed to the garden itself. "Well, firstly, I'm on the run from a lot of bad people. And droids. And the Sith, I think. Well I know my sister is out to get me, but I don't think Kiarna is just yet, and I don't know much about the other Sith Lords…"

"You are quite safe here I assure you. Given what happened during the Civil War, we took a lot of defensive steps, even before Darth Lasidia made her presence known."

That made Maarani turn away, just until she let herself ignore the grief that had been reignited. Before an apology could be made, she sucked it up and looked back at her. "Good. I really don't want any trouble to follow me here. Or anywhere really. I just seem to be a magnet for it lately."

"I'm glad to see that didn't stop you from standing up for yourself, and your ideals."

The two began to walk at last, Maarani blinking a few times at the light water mist that was sprayed over some of the plants. "Yeah well, there's a lot of reasons I've been treated badly for that I could have ranted about. Being Twi'lek, being a woman, being gay, being part of the Republic military, being blue even. Guess there's enough pride left in me to pick the fight that actually means a damn to someone other than me."

Bastila nodded in her way, very patiently hearing her out. "Being able to own up to mistakes is a key aspect of what makes good people great. It's admiring to see someone in a position like yours not only take charge, but take the fight back to where it belongs." She sighed again, this time to herself with a glance at the soft lights above. "If I'm overstating it, please, tell me. I have a lot of regrets of my own, and unfortunately it's impossible for me to correct many of them. That tends to leave me waxing philosophical."

As they passed an array of flowering plants, she noticed Maarani's continued silence. "I didn't mean to let things drift that far off. You wanted my help in seeking out Yuthura, I assume because the Council will not give you that themselves?"

Maarani tilted her head with a bit of a shrug. "I guess. I definitely can't ask until I know if I'm going to be pulled in for questioning by the Senate or not. Dana already got into a big argument with them trying to protect me, and Jayden suggested I come here earlier for training."

"Training?"

The lips tightened again. Even with weeks to think it over, it was all a convoluted mess that even she couldn't keep track of. And to explain it to Bastila Shan, someone she had revered for years, was just as hard if not moreso than working out what to say to a childhood idol of hers upon meeting Mission.

Ultimately, she opted for the straightforward simplicity approach. "When the massacre happened, my Force powers were finally starting to come out, no longer the only one in the family without them. Then, I crashed on a planet and lost them altogether. Flat out, gone. The Jedi weren't sending anyone to take me to the funeral, so I assumed they were abandoning me and went to join the military instead. And eight years later after a load of crap and some such I'm here, trying to get back what I lost. And you'd think I'd be better at telling that story after how many times I've had to lay it out."

"It's clear enough for me to grasp what you mean." Bastila stopped again, this time for deep thought on the matter. "It certainly raises a lot of questions, and I don't want to burden you with all of them. There is one I would ask in particular however."

"Shoot."

"What exactly on that planet cut you off from the Force?"

Maarani's irises dilated a little, her face going a paler shade of blue than her usual skin tone. "I… I don't really know. I had no pilot training back then, the entry vector was botched, I just ploughed right into an island in the middle of nowhere. When a rescue ship got there and woke me up, I couldn't feel anything." Her gaze drifted downward, towards her shaking hands. "I had the screams of all those Jedi echoing in my head, then dead silence. For a whole month after, it felt like I was deaf, dumb and blind, and had to learn how to walk again. Only I was still physically fine, nothing ever showed up in brain scans." She clenched her hands together and forced herself to look back up. "It was terrifying, feeling so helpless, and yet being otherwise perfectly normal."

Bastila nodded, this time much slower, a pained understanding at the forefront of her mind. "And they didn't find anything else on the planet? I don't mean to sound dismissive, it just worries me that someone could be cut off in such a sharp way, over such a long distance across the galaxy from where the traumatic event occurred. Any other explanation would put that worry at ease."

"If they did, they didn't bother telling me, probably because it wasn't relevant. I haven't been back there myself since."

"Well, perhaps if you happen to be in the part of the galaxy it would be worthwhile. In any case, you believe Yuthura is the one most likely to help you restore the connection?"

"She's a family friend from what I'm told, and I figured that Jedi who go off on their own to study ancient ways are among the best for performing miracles that modern science and Force doo dah just can't compare to. No offence."

Bastila managed a smile at that. "For a moment I forgot that I'm not your age and talking to Mission in her teenage years. I'm well beyond being offended by 'Force doo dah' as a phrase. But, as far as finding Yuthura goes, the most I can do is ask contacts of the Reformed if they have anything of worth to say. I assumed she didn't want to come here in person after what Malak did to her when the bombing stopped."

It was still more than what Maarani had prepared herself to expect. Hope pointed to a direct location, or starmap, and cynicism pointed to a lack of care. "I really do appreciate this, Master Shan. With my sister turned into some kind of freakish Sith, I've got no other family to turn to for help."

"I suppose that explains why you have the Dreshdae Sith tattoos, something I wasn't going to ask about mind you."

Maarani went pale yet again. "Sith tattoos? I thought they were just Twi'lek, since they came up in a public parlour database." She was about to reach up to her face in that moment of worry before Bastila stopped her with a very light hold of her arm.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. She chose to keep them even after returning to the Jedi, and I doubt they're of significance to Darth Lasidia's Sith anyway. If it's a way of honouring her in absence…"

"Something like that, yeah."

"Then there's little harm in them. The danger of Sith markings is in the ink, not the pattern. Some compounds are designed specifically to drive Sith deeper into controlled madness as they sink in."

Maarani's face went even paler.

"Perhaps I need to be more aware of my rambling. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

After recovering from the withering thought, Maarani began to reach into her jacket at last. While it might have been better to show Dana first, in that moment she wanted expertise over understanding.

"I started building a lightsaber. It's rather crap yes, made from what was lying around in a toolhouse." She brought it out into the open and held it out, still missing the top segment of the casing, and the grip section bearing several welding marks from her amateur efforts.

Despite all that, Bastila took great care in picking it up herself, holding it over both hands and getting a feel for the weight. "It is balanced well, considering what seems to be missing from it. And the construction may be crude, but it would function. Lightsabers do not have to appear elegant if the wielder does not feel it is necessary."

She handed it back to Maarani, who immediately turned it around to open the grip cover.

"There's one thing I haven't told anyone yet, not even Dana. You see, when I was much younger, I found a small crystal cave near the village, and, well…"

The cover slipped free. With a gentle nudge from her finger, she pushed the crystal itself out into her waiting hand.

A distinctly red crystal, cracked through, but still holding together.

Bastila's next breath was sharp. She had only seen one red crystal that had naturally grown in her life, and that was in the possession of the one person she had hoped to forget.

"I was upset at the time I met with the Council, afraid they'd lock me up or something if I walked in with that. My mother always taught that red crystals are always linked to the Sith."

She held out her hand again, this time for Bastila to examine the crystal itself.

That was done with a great amount of reluctance, but from the moment it landed in her palm she was hit with a great relief. While the crystal itself felt dull, rather akin to Maarani's presence in the Force, there was nothing dark or sinister lurking beneath.

"Undoubtedly that's something the Sith taught her in turn. It's an unfortunate result of so many Sith blades carrying red crystals that even the Sith themselves simply assume the two are linked. It really is as foolish as assuming all Lethan Twi'lek are destined to become Sith."

Maarani giggled at that, something that surprised herself greatly. "I dated a Lethan girl once, and made that kind of joke to my father. I get what you mean."

They began to walk around at last after the crystal had been replaced and the lightsaber itself tucked back into her jacket, leaving conversation aside in favour of enjoying the silence for a while longer. When the stairs on the opposing side to those they had climbed came into view, Maarani stopped one last time.

"Thanks for taking the time to chat, and for putting up with me. Dana kinda got worked up over me coming here, but I guess this time she was wrong."

It raised another question that Bastila had elected to avoid, but with the opportunity now at hand. "Did she tell you why she's so hostile towards me? I don't recall a reason why, at least from when I last saw her."

There was a longer pause while Maarani weighed everything up in her head. It wasn't really breaking something said in confidence when Bastila had to have known. "She told me that you and Surik wiped her old mind away, and created a new one. Like with Revan."

To her surprise, Bastila wasn't upset in the slightest, only a little concerned. "Is that what she believes? When Surik and I both left Coruscant, under unpleasant circumstances, the process hadn't even been started. In fact, it was her old personality that requested it of us, I merely assumed that others had seen to it."

That in turn raised questions for Maarani, but for the moment she at least had something to hopefully ease Dana's bad mood. "She also told me that's what Master Pala told her. I guess if the old her wanted it, there's no-one who knows why anymore."

"Well I won't speculate on why Sereti told her that, for the sake of decency. Earlier, I was just surprised to see her when a condition was that she was to never leave Coruscant without supervision. I suppose it's to be expected of changing times."

"I guess. Anyway, I hope I haven't been too much of a distraction, you looked kinda busy."

Bastila laughed softly at that, prompting her towards the stairs at last to return back to the ground floor. "It's no bother to me or the others. With the Sith having retreated for months now, things have been very quiet. I appreciate the break from sorting through administrative files and other paperwork. Provided you are better for this talk, I would say it has been well worth it."

"Well worth it then." As they began the descent, Maarani shuddered again before shaking it off. "Kinda worried something bad is gonna happen now. That's usually how my luck runs."

"Then don't rely on luck. The Force is always with you, even if you can't call upon it yet. My son has been able to achieve a lot in his life already without ever having felt it after all."

Maarani's lip twitched a smile at that. Vaner certainly had a serene charm to him, it was really quite amazing to see someone who was so completely peaceful, but still warm in presence. "I can tell. He really seems fulfilled in life."

* * *

Izan's visit to the pazaak den had lasted all of ten seconds before he was swiftly booted out, the bouncers muttering something he couldn't even understand while they glared at him to leave the area.

"At least tell me why! Is it because I've got pink skin?"

"Actually yes. They kicked me out yesterday for that."

With little recourse, Izan sighed and looked to the Zeltron woman that had spoken up, only to have his jaw drop in shock.

"Chaser? How in the hell did you end up here?"

Chaser looked right back at him with a bit of a confused look herself. "What? How do you know my name?"

"Citadel Station, some big conference on shield generators I think, grey Zabrak with a soft voice in charge." When that got nothing out of her, he stepped a little closer. "I'm Izan, third cousin? Don't you remember?"

She reached up into her mess of deep blue hair, streaking engine grease through it without a second thought. "Izan… Izan… Barfly? Lonely drunk? Weird cousin who doesn't know if he likes sleeping with men, women or whatever's in between?"

Izan's expression quickly dropped as the descriptions became less and less flattering. "That's not even really the case… Look, let's stick with Czerka observer. Well, formerly. Actually I have no idea what I am at this point. I'm not getting paid that's for sure…"

"Right…"

"Look, Chaser…" He was about to grab onto her arm, but quickly avoided doing so upon noticing more engine grease on the shoulder of her jacket that had a notable similarity to Maarani's, only with a different colour scheme and patch. He wasn't about to put his good suit in danger after all. "You busy? I just got here, and without pazaak I've got little else to do. Sure, we're only third cousins, and we don't ever speak, but now's a great chance?"

Chaser sighed, looking back at him for a little while, then threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine, I'll clean up and come by the cantina later when I'm off duty. You're buying drinks though."

* * *

Maarani spent most of the afternoon wandering around the grounds of the Reformed complex as Bastila had clarified when eventually asked. As expected, there was an expansion to their own archives and relic hall. One of the newer buildings housed a botanic laboratory where quite a few Jedi and both Republic and neutralist scientists alike studied and worked on crops that were to be grown right across Dantooine itself.

It was the first real indicator of something she had been told on Coruscant, and yet hadn't really given all that much consideration to. That of just how varied the career paths open to Jedi were. After years of picturing herself defending Twi'lek from the Hutts, the wildlife and even the weather, and then eight years of being trained solely to fight and kill Imperial pilots, a more passive lifestyle no longer looked dull by comparison.

She really could play her part in bettering the galaxy as a whole without ever having to draw a weapon ever again.

It required deeper contemplation, as did many other things she had made herself think about. A few good hours passed before Dana found her in one of the meditation halls, still lost in thought about it all.

"Nice to see you actually taking the time. I've been starting to worry with how much you've been wanting to keep moving as of late."

"I can't meditate on the _Distant Star_ , even with engines powered down." Maarani adjusted her posture, moving from a kneeling position to a cross-legged one after easing the strain in her ankles. "It just doesn't feel right trying to connect to the Force from the emptiness of space. I know some people prefer that, but, I need real, solid ground to make it work."

"Fair. It's more common than you realize. Those I've met of the Dust Monks say that they limit space travel where possible so that they can remain connected to the lifeforce of planets. And those of the Togruta that follow more traditional paths even go barefoot to maintain their connection."

For the first time that day, Maarani's lips twitched into an eventual frown, two disturbing memories brought right back to the surface. "I know. Masaka told me that Darth Lasidia doesn't wear boots. That, and Omena used to make jokes about throwing rocks and stuff at tribals when they came by cities, making them step through the sharp ones..."

She reached up to her face and let that bad feeling dissipate away. "There I go again with spouting depressing shit. I was going so well with actually feeling good about myself, without having to be told 'You did the right thing' or 'You're an inspiration'. That kind of crap gets grating so fast you wouldn't believe-"

"Teegs, calm down. No-one should feel like they have to complain about genuine compliments when they come."

Maarani bit down on her tongue until she had taken several deep breaths, letting the anxiety fade. "It's not the compliments, it's the feeling that everyone's too quick to forgive me. Just because I owned up to violating basic sapient rights against threat of ruination doesn't mean I'm absolved. It scares me a little when people act nice now."

"And Bastila? Does she scare you? I'll admit she's acting a lot more pleasantly than I expected, and it's unnerving me."

"Yeah about that. I brought up what you said to me with her, and either she's an incredible liar or Master Pala was wrong about her being involved. Just thought you should know."

Dana was anything but upset with Maarani for that. After all, if she wanted to say it in confidence, she certainly wouldn't have done it on an open air bridge just fifteen metres away from several Jedi. And she wasn't feeling any strong denial about that either, no innate feeling that Maarani was wrong.

"Well that begs a few questions. Why would Sereti lie about that, and if it wasn't Bastila overseeing it who else knew exactly what to do?"

Maarani shifted in her spot again, this time back onto her knees but in a sideways sit instead. "Master Pala acted kinda weird both times I met her, in the Council room and right after we brought the _Distant Star_ to the Temple if you remember. Kept prodding me about recognizing corrupted Miraluka, about Kiarna. So I don't really have a clue myself."

Dana smiled in a bemused way. "I was asking rhetorically. In any case, I'd need to give it more thought myself, another time. This was about getting you much needed help and recovery, not me finding out about my past. I won't let it be hijacked."

"You're real sweet. I mean, just the way you're looking out for me like this. I really do appreciate you giving up so much time just to put up with my bullshit."

"It's not so bad." She scoffed while leaning back against the wall at last. "You're a pain in the ass at times still, yeah. But you've got charm, and you're reasonable when you want to be. That's enough for me to stick with it, wherever this leads."

The sound of others climbing the staircase up brought a pause to their discussion.

"Nice dodge on my supposed absolvement." Maarani prepared to get back on her feet until Bastila motioned for her to stay. Jayden wasn't far behind.

"I hope we're not intruding. Word has been put out about your search, with any luck there will be a response by tomorrow afternoon."

After a glance to Dana, who proceeded to move further to the other side of the hall, Maarani looked back with an appreciative smile. "I'll have something to wake up for then. So, can I ask yet another question of you?"

"Of course."

This time she was rather more hesitant to actually make the question known, mostly because of how little she already knew. It meant the odds of her hearing an answer she didn't want at all were much higher.

"I guess you're an expert on Force bonds, right? Do you have any idea how I could end up with one, despite being cut off?"

Bastila leaned back against the railing of the staircase lightly, again with a thoughtful look. "It's not unheard of. And I would be surprised if the damage hasn't begun to heal enough for one to form, despite how personal they are it doesn't require a particularly strong link on both ends. Who do you believe you're bonded to?"

And there came the painful part of it. "Kiarna. I've heard her voice in my head several times, and she's actually responded to what I've said. That and I've got a big hole in my memory from when I met her in person, before it started happening. Can't think of any other explanation."

"I see." Bastila by then had begun rubbing around the graft between skin and metal on her right hand, a result of her own encounter with the White Terror. "Hearing the voices of each other does fit the usual signs of a bond, but memory loss is something else entirely. Have there been any other gaps I wonder?"

"Fourteen hours on Coruscant, a night on _Twa'janii Station_ , and possibly when I was drugged on an Exchange outpost. But that might have been the drug itself I couldn't tell the difference."

"And no success in trying to recover those memories?"

Maarani made another glance at Dana. She hadn't tried all that much, or even asked about how she would go about that, but now was really the right time. "I don't know how. I just kept waking up in a cold sweat and feeling like something was really wrong."

A sharp breath drew her attention right back to Bastila. Her face was definitely a little lighter, something Jayden had also noticed based on her look.

"What? Is that bad?"

"No, I'm not sure." She leaned off the railing and began circling around, gesturing to a nearby table of stones to bring one over and set it in front of Maarani. "A good place to start would be the neutral focus meditation. Juhani has become quite proficient in it after your father taught it to her."

"My father came up with that?" She glanced to Dana again, who looked away without a word. "I've learned that one, yeah. Guess trying to use my lightsaber as a focal point wasn't the right move."

"Perhaps. It will become a better focal point when your bond with it is strengthened again. In any case, the stone has a special purpose. Touch it first."

Maarani did just that, extending her finger and quickly tapping the dark polished surface. To her surprise, it was very warm despite the table it had been sitting on being well away from any source of sunlight or heat.

"We use these stones to explore the depths of the mind. It will keep you from falling into an unconscious state, and let you describe anything you hear, see or feel to us."

"Alright, magic rocks, here goes."

She settled back into a meditative posture at last, staring at the rock for a long while before closing her eyes.

"I exist, the rock exists, the Force exists. Nothing else matters."

Her next heartbeat sounded far louder than it ever had.

"I exist."

Thump.

"The rock exists."

Thump.

"The Force…"

Her visualization of the rock was swept away.

"I see… brown. Brown dust, and dirt."

Bastila nodded slowly, beginning to brush the hem of her sleeve.

"It's windy, there's dirt blowing everywhere. It's not touching me at all."

The image began to haze. Her hand reached out to clench around the rock, trying to hold onto the supposed memory. "This is more like a dream, this isn't Sarka. What am I even saying."

"Don't worry about that Tegama. Don't look for something specific."

Maarani took another breath, putting every bit of her will forward. A figure began to materialize, a blonde woman dressed in red. Trying to say something.

Her hand released the rock in a start as a face flashed past her eyes. It broke her concentration with such a start that she nearly fell back in surprise. Dana was there to catch her in a near instant.

"Ugh! That was freaky! I knew I was mucked in the head but that…"

"Was it something repulsive? What did you see?"

After recovering her bearings and settling down again, Maarani finally shook her head. "No, it was nothing like that, just real vivid. I saw a woman in the distance, then a face came right up in front of me."

Bastila slowly moved down to one knee opposite her, watching Dana's glare until she moved away. "Who's face? Kiarna's, or someone else? Try not to find meaning in anything just yet."

Maarani rubbed at her left temple, sighing in thought. "It was, weird. A blue face, blue eyes. And…" She concentrated on the memory again, trying not to let it fade. "I think there were markings, not tattoos or that. More like they were painted on."

Bastila went a shade lighter again, swallowing in a slightly nervous way. "Can you describe the markings?"

"They were big lines. Black, grey, white."

She could tell immediately that it meant something significant to Bastila. The way her face went very pale, eyes wide, and the sudden trembling of her hand on her knee.

"You've seen that before?"

After bowing her head, something only she herself knew was out of shame, she nodded and looked back up. "In a dream of my own. What happened doesn't matter, only that I saw myself with markings identical to those you just described."

"Bit of a big coincidence then, huh?"

She sat back up when Bastila unexpectedly settled into a meditative position of her own directly across from her. The colour was returning to her face, as was a look of determination.

"The Force doesn't create coincidences. It prompted us to this moment, reminded us of times we have tried to forget. We need to see it through."

"Alright, I'm ready."

While feeling nervous again, she did her best to remain focused, following Bastila's instructions exactly, and trying not to fidget when it came time for them to both hold the stone between them. Thankfully she had chosen left hands for that part.

"Try a more recent block. Something fresh in your mind."

Maarani looked at Dana again, then sighed a little in realization. "When I held my breath for three hours. I was doing this exact meditation, without the stone obviously. Maybe that's the same kind of hole."

She closed her eyes at last, thinking back to that period. This time the image was far more tangible. She wasn't just seeing a desolate planet, but actually walking around on it.

This time, she saw herself standing in front of her, bearing those exact markings.

"Guide her to the light, she will guide you to the Force."

Again she was broken out of the moment with more than just a shudder to show for it. Again, Dana was there to keep her steady, while Bastila merely opened her eyes with a bit of disappointment.

"It's not as revealing as I had hoped."

"Well knowing my mind, I'm glad it wasn't revealing." Maarani could practically hear Dana rolling her eyes for that one. Even she felt a little disgusted with herself for making it afterwards. "One more try. I've still got that night on _Twa'janii_ to go."

"Very well."

They established the grip around the stone again, letting the focus set in.

This time, Maarani found herself much closer to the other version of herself. There were several echoes of her voice, one ranting while the other trying to calm her down.

"I can't make out what either me is saying."

"Don't force it. Let the words flow."

Her fingers gripped around the stone harder. Muffled words on the wind began to form into actual sounds.

"Az… Aze?" A chill went through her body. "Azera Vass?"

 _Save your mate from the darkness._

At last, she broke the focus of her own will, her hand lowering down to the floor to release the stone gently. It took her a few moments to realize Bastila had already broken from the link.

"Azera Vass. I don't recognize the name, but at least you now we know who it is you're intended to 'guide to the light'."

"Yeah, I'll get to it after I save the corrupted Miraluka, break the HK-50 droids and find a way to stop my sister from killing me."

"At least you now know something about the memory gaps. I'm going to meditate on these visions myself, perhaps I can find something further in them that will be of help."

"Right…"

Maarani grabbed onto Dana's shoulder for support when finally getting up, her legs sore from how long she had been sitting there. Hard flooring wasn't nearly as comfortable as thick grass or freshly matted leaves and damp twigs.

On the way down the staircase, she finally made herself let go of Dana. "That was really weird. I saw a woman in red the first time, but not the others. And this bit about Azera Vass?"

"I don't recognize the name either. But then I've been on Coruscant for most of my current life, and you know how isolated the Telos base is."

"I'll figure it out when I need to. I'm fine now. I just need time to think."

"Sure. I'll be on the _Distant Star_ , gonna see how Izan's doing."

Coincidentally, Jayden moved to her side not long after Dana had left it, finding herself still in a search for words. There was a lot to be said indeed after all.

"So, what else did you find out in there?"

Maarani slowly looked up at her.

"I'm just wondering, it might have an impact I'm what I'm about to tell you."

There was a hum of thought before Maarani replied. "After Bastila broke the link, I heard 'Save your mate from the darkness'. So, is Azera Vass supposed to be my soulmate or something?"

Jayden's face tightened, her hand slowly reaching for the communicator she had held onto all that time, and always kept on her person in the slim chance she did get a call first.

"I've met Azera Vass. She's a Sith woman who helped me escape the hospital on Arkanis when a group we only know as the Fallen massacred the place. We both ended up there after the HK-50s attacked Dalchon, as I recall she was shot saving children from them. She even flew me right to Mandalore on her way back to the other Sith."

"Well, that sounds a hell of a lot better already. Sure, Sith are bad, but if she's not the nasty sort…"

"She has a husband."

Maarani's hands clenched again, though her face was one of disappointment. "Oh. Well that's just typical, isn't it? Turns out my soulmate is a lot closer than I thought, and might not even be that hard to redeem, but oh wait she's a straight woman fuck you Maarani."

"That's a childish way of looking at it; there's no telling how things will turn out." She drew out the communicator at last, handing it out for Maarani to take. "I brought it up because she gave me this before we parted ways. We ran into a group known as the Following, they were looking to protect 'the One', and Azera and I agreed to share any information we found about this 'One'. But none of them have appeared since, and I thought you might want the chance to talk to her yourself."

"And you tell me this after Bastila makes a point about the Force guiding things? That makes this whole mess so much weirder!"

"Do you want to or not?"

After an eyeroll, Maarani grabbed the communicator and set it right on her hand. "Just you watch, I open it up, and it's either Darth Lasidia on the other end, or her husband. Bet he'll be pleased."

For a small while, there was nothing. A signal had definitely gone out, but even considering the size of the communicator, and the potential distance between Dantooine and wherever Azera was, it was a painful waiting period.

When it did finally blare into life, only the head of a masked woman was visible. Jayden immediately recognized it as Azera.

" _I was starting to believe you had forgotten about our arrangement, or chosen to ignore it._ "

The raspy voice was unmistakably hers.

"I got roped into other duties Azera. The Following and the Fallen haven't done anything since our last meeting. That's not why I called anyway."

The projection rotated to Maarani, who shivered a little when she felt the scanner take her image.

" _A Twi'lek? What do you want?_ "

"Uh, well…" She bit her lip in another bout of nervousness. What could she possibly say? "Your name came to me in a vision, and I am completely serious when I say that. I don't know anything about this 'One', but I have run into some reprogrammed HK-50s that said weird shit and called me 'Lady' with that same kind of emphasis. Don't suppose you know anything about a Seer, a Witch or a Silent?"

" _No, I don't._ "

Maarani sighed in defeat. There seemed little point in continuing. "I suppose I should be sorry for bothering you, even if you are Sith. Have fun with your husband."

" _What do you even mean by that? Who are you?_ "

Right before ending the transmission, she clenched her other hand up for a moment of courage. "I'm the one being hunted by half the galaxy. And I'll be sorry if I have to shoot you if we do eventually meet. You're supposed to be my soulmate after all."

She shut it off and chucked it back to Jayden with a cold look. "I tried. Now we go back to finding Yuthura." And she made her departure on that.

* * *

"Oh, I wish I could see your face right now!"

Kiarna twisted her head to Carudan, the hand printed on her mask glowing ever so slightly beneath the black overlay she had hastily pulled over it. "Be so very damn glad you cannot."

He laughed again for a solid half minute before finally calming down, making some small corrections to their course as a means of settling his amusement. "That alone is well worth enduring this agonizing cycle of flying Miraluka across the galaxy."

"And I will make it clear for the last time, Carudan. My kindred come before all else." In a fit of anger, she tore the overlay from her mask and set the voice modulator in the mask back to its default. "I'm still waiting for you to decide who goes to take her down you know."

"Oh, I'm more than happy to let you go and kill her." He waited for her to turn back around before letting that grin appear again. "She's already fine with killing her soulmate, only fair you have something in common."

"Get out!"

"And let a blind woman fly us to wherever it is we're headed next?"

Out came the lightsaber, the purple blade humming right under his chin while he glared back at her. Barely a flinch from him. "You're real tetchy from that. I'm surprised you managed to stay so calm."

The blade vanished back into the lightsaber, which Kiarna very nearly threw across the room in fury. Instead, it came to rest on her lap. She was still silent.

"Come to think of it, I'm surprised she didn't recognize you. A black cloth only goes so far."

"Twi'lek are human-shaped cattle, you're an idiot if you expect insight from them. If it weren't so important to keep the two names separate, I'd have gladly watched her mental implosion from learning the truth."

Carudan smirked at that before returning to the controls again. "You're a real credit to your kind Kiarna. So, once we drop that quaking mess off, where are we going next? I might want to purchase a good hat while we're there."

"Ketaris. And I highly doubt you'd ever buy a hat."

"Fine, I admit it. I'm hungry, and I have the distinct feeling you won't let me snack on any of your friends. A populated world won't miss one or two humans I suppose."

That made Kiarna turn away as well. Slaughtering villagers, duelling and beheading Jedi. Those were entertaining to her. Whatever Carudan practised, whether he really was just a superior being preying on those below, or actual cannibalism was far from that.

"Whatever. I really don't want to know more. We do this, and either I go to Katarr or we go and take Maarani down. And then you leave my ship."

"Anything you say, dear wife of mine."

* * *

The cantina was exactly where Dana found Izan, and he looked exactly as she had expected. Drunk as Zeltrons could get, and hopelessly alone.

"Oh boy, I thought Maarani was the one who had depressive bouts. This takes the cake."

"I got stood up by my own cousin."

Dana went through several different expressions. Pity, turned to confusion, turned to realization, turned to disgust, and finally turned to dismissal. "Izan, I'm… sorry?"

It took him a few glances at her to finally catch onto what she was thinking. "No! Not like that! That's… actually kinda racist I think. We were supposed to have an actual chat, like relatives should when they don't hate each other, but it's been hours and a no show."

"Well, these things happen." Dana finally took up the seat next to him, gesturing at the bartender that she wasn't ordering yet. "Were you planning to meet him here on Dantooine, or was this just happenstance? Can't really blame him if it's the latter."

"Her, and this was a spontaneous thing. I mean, okay, we're only third cousins, but that's about the closest I've got beside you, Jayden, Maarani and Cecile. I wanted to sit down with someone I'm not risking life and limb for on a daily basis, just for a while."

"Okay, well, you could tell me about her instead if you're so bored that you're reaching for third cousins to spend time with over shipmates."

Izan glanced at her, downed the last of his drink, and finally sat back up from his moping spot on the bar itself. "Name's Chaser. She's part of some Republic engineering division, didn't get a good look at her team patch. First time we met was way back on Citadel Station. The highlight of my day was actually meeting a relative for once. And then she was gone, and I went back to the routine."

When there was no further word from him, Dana frowned a little, twisting on her chair some more. "Is that really it? You met once, didn't bother to try and maintain contact, and that's grounds for being upset when she might just have actual commitments to worry about?"

"Well… Yeah, yeah that is it. And no, I can't back that up anymore. How am I even supposed to argue with a psychologist?"

"You start by not bothering."

"Figures. How's Maarani doing?"

Dana made a bit of a grimace at his forced change of subject. "Surprisingly well. I was worried she'd end up clashing with Bastila, or end up doing something stupid, but she's actually been able to make a lot more progress than I thought possible under the circumstances. She might even stop being such a moody bitch if this keeps up."

"I'm almost sad to hear that, I've gotten used to her being abusive half the time, crazed and raving the other half. And the third half actually being a decent person."

"I'm not falling for that Izan."

He picked up his glass in a bit of a mocking toast. "Worth a shot."

"Not falling for that one either."

"You're no fun. At least when I pretend to be drunk I don't start talking about burying my face in Nautolan tentacles. I think that's what Maarani was trying to get at."

"Right, good luck finding one actually willing… actually I don't want to think about that either." She moved out of her seat at last, but took the time to grip his shoulder before leaving. "For what it's worth, we all appreciate you sticking with it for Teegs' sake. I'm just sorry it ended up ruining things between you and your mother."

"I'm over Luxa, but thanks anyway."

He watched her part with a smile, and make her way back to the door. After further thought, he left a sufficient pile of credits on the bar and went to follow after her. She would need help keeping an eye on Zariba after all.

* * *

Zimorr muttered curses when thrust into the room by the unseen assailants he had somehow missed before they whacked him over the head. He was still bothered, and ironically a bit in admiration of their success in pulling off such a feat. They couldn't have known they were dealing with a cyborg after all, let alone a Miraluka one.

And in spite of having ample time to learn that, they had still moved him into a room that had several doorways he could perceive, and more importantly had nothing in the way of Force nullification or cybernetic dampening. Either very bold of them, or very stupid.

"You play a dangerous game messing with me, whomever you are. I have friends, powerful friends. Among the Jedi, the Sith, the upper reaches of the Exchange. I've even made friends with the largest HK-50 army in the galaxy."

"None of them will be of use to you."

From directly opposite Zimorr came Rinzaan, no longer wearing the uniform of a Republic Intelligence officer, the head laden with native tattoos on full display now.

That made Zimorr smile. "Republic Intelligence are sinking lower and lower. From torturing Mirialan civilians to kidnapping a perfectly legitimate slicer."

Rinzaan's grin was wider. "This has nothing to do with Republic intelligence."

Several more people began to step into the room. A Jedi, some various Republic officers, two Sith, a Czerka administrator, and four others dressed in grey robes.

The smile wiped away when Zimorr realized he couldn't look beneath the hoods of the four mystery people. There was no nullification resin involved. Through sheer power in the Force they were blocking his sight, and that was something he had never seen before.

"The Following like to call us the Fallen. We came to see the truth about the False One, and they condemned us for it. That is all you need to know of us."

"Oh really?"

One of the hooded figures spoke the same language he had overheard back at Republic Intelligence to Rinzaan. She nodded when he was done, looking back to Zimorr. "You ruined a plan of ours. We intended to leak files that would destroy relations between the False One and the Jedi to them alone. You allowed the Hidden Hand to distribute them across the galaxy, and now the Lady has used it as an opportunity to sway opinion of her to be more favourable than ever. A horrific setback in our plans because of your interference."

"Hmph, I don't really care. I heard what you said about Azera, how she is claimed as a mate to this 'false one'. I was angry, and I do irrational things when I get angry. You should have practised better security."

Another hooded figure spoke. This time the voice had a feminine tone to it. She still spoke the same language that he didn't recognize at all.

"Whether you care or not is irrelevant. Your alliance with the droids is now null, you work for us."

Zimorr formed his smile again, making sure to let his eye camera get a good scan of everyone around him while he slowly turned. "And why would I break off a lucrative contract like that?"

Rinzaan stopped him in his tracks, and with a quick gesture disabled the camera in his eye using a jamming device located inside her wrist. "We know you have an infatuation with the False One's chosen mate. We did intend to kill her, but given the failure of our kindred on Arkanis, we are open to the possibility of letting her live. We also know that you would like nothing more than to take her as a brain dead body, which would suit our needs quite nicely."

"Funny, that's exactly what the HK-50s offered me. I'm still not seeing the benefit."

"They don't want you to kill the False One for starters. And if that is not enough to convince you…"

One of the Sith stepped forward and touched the direct centre of his forehead with two fingers.

"We have interrogated Azera Vass in the past, the Following allowed her to escape, then wiped her memories. She will not anticipate the gift we give you now."

A sharp pain went right through Zimorr's head, running through into the exoskeleton attached to his back in a hard jolt. He could barely make out the Jedi moving behind him while he stumbled briefly.

"Speak that name to her. The programming in her mind will leave her almost entirely defenceless. We could not counteract the dark powers contained within her mask, you will need to deal with that yourself."

Zimorr finally got out a laugh when standing back upright. For a group of secretive cultists, they were being quite liberal with their intentions. "'Tulara'. Someone she knew I take it?"

"Her mother's name, we believe."

That brought on a louder laugh. "Oh yes, now I remember. I'm sure she'll appreciate the irony someday, if she can remember any of it."

"Then you accept our terms?"

He made one more pass around the room with his sight, then nodded slowly. "It seems I've little choice in the matter anyway. I couldn't refuse an offer that guarantees me Azera's body intact. The droids were hardly as willing to negotiate on that."

"Then our business is done. Be on your way to Ketaris."

The Jedi behind him reached up to the back of his head and rendered him unconscious once more.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Maarani came back from her walk through the grazing lands that extended out to the north. While walking around Khoonda was something in the way of exercise, it was hard to argue with the serenity of endless grass, and the occasional kath hound that came over and tried to lick her face until it grew bored and ran off.

But then, it was exactly the kind of distraction from soul searching that she needed at least once every hour. Something to keep her grounded, while admittedly on the ground for a change.

She was mildly surprised, and a little touched, that there were a few Jedi watching the perimeter section that had been left open for her. They nodded with a small smile as she passed; the hum of the field itself coming to life right behind her.

The main building was noticeably lacking in people compared to when she had left. A quick assumption was that they had either gone to the lower levels or one of the dorm buildings, and those that remained had duties of their own to attend to.

More surprising was that she found Jayden overlooking one of the pebble gardens, her reaction making it rather clear that she had been waiting for her return.

"I was starting to worry. Typically it isn't a good sign when someone runs off unannounced."

"I needed time to think. I'm sorry I blew up at you earlier."

"In hindsight, I should have waited until tomorrow. But at least you know."

A tense silence began to settle. Maarani could feel discomfort rising from within. So much had happened in the space of a day, perhaps too much for her to properly handle.

"Crazy, isn't it? Either I would have gone on from here with just a name and a concept of who Azera Vass is, nothing assured or reliable. Or, I actually do go on from here knowing who she is, vaguely, knowing all the reasons why things aren't going to work out, and the added problem of feeling like something is very wrong anyway. And no, I can't just pretend I don't know any of that."

"Then don't. Putting disbelief aside for a moment, Bastila clearly believes that there's some guidance from the Force involved here, so chances are you won't even need to try and seek her out. Things will probably happen that will open up an opportunity to set things straight while we continue the search for Yuthura."

"Yeah, maybe her husband will meet with a convenient accident along the way…"

Jayden placed a firm grip on her shoulder, but it was not accompanied by a dismissive remark. "Don't worry about the details, they're not important. Restoring the connection is what matters above all else, right?"

Maarani didn't have a chance to answer, as Vaner was briskly walking up the corridor in search of her in particular.

"Good, you're back. We've been given a reliable source on Yuthura's whereabouts after her departure from Coruscant. That, and the Senate is about to announce their decision on the Mirial incident."

After a look to Jayden, she sighed and made her way over to Vaner's side. "Sooner than I expected, but I'd rather be done with it now."

"I'll return to the _Distant Star_ then. There's some things I need to discuss with Dana anyway."

There was a brisk walk back to the communications room, which was notably devoid of anyone else. Vaner moved to a nearby console as soon as he was inside.

"I asked the others to take a small break, seeing as this might not be a good announcement, and I didn't want you to feel pressured by observers."

"It wouldn't be the first time, but thank you." She moved up to the holotable in that time, waiting for the projection of the Chancellor himself to come up in front of her.

"As for the contact, she only identified herself as 'The Watcher'. She's based on Ketaris, been there for several years now, and she has a contact of her own that met with Yuthura a few months after the massacre. Apparently getting a meeting with her contact will require special arrangements; she'll be ready to explain the rest when you get there."

"Great, spy stuff."

Vaner grinned at that while making the final preparations. "Jayden has experience with that from what she told me earlier, so you are in good hands." He turned from the console at last and approached the holotable. "It'll begin any moment now. I can wait outside if you'd prefer as well."

"Actually, I'd rather you stayed."

Maarani finally made herself look over at him, a solemn look having settled over her. "I have a history of, well, not taking bad news well. I'd rather not be left alone completely if it turns out that way."

The holotable blared into life at last, bringing up the form of the Chancellor. An older Ithorian that had some notable battle scars from his early service. Small wonder that they had chosen someone with military experience to lead the Republic in a time of war. There was a small delay between his speech in Ithorian, and the table's translation to Basic.

"In regards to the atrocities committed on Mirial, recently brought to light by a still yet unidentified source, I and the members of the Republic Senate have reached the following conclusions;..."

Maarani held her breath in growing nervousness.

"In regards to those directly responsible from the military corps, namely the members of starfighter squadron Blue, and certain members of the 22nd Infantry Division, we have settled on a conditional amnesty for past actions."

She let out that breath in a great wave of relief. Whatever the conditions were, she still felt much better knowing that she was not going to be declared a fugitive.

"The conditions extend not only to those mentioned above, but all active and inactive military personnel and officers. Any further involvement in illegal operations will be met with the harshest penalties available from this moment forward. Failure to report any knowledge of said operations to a superior or appropriate ambassador will be considered collusion, and carry those same penalties. These penalties will range from dishonourable discharge and bound disclosure of activities, to maximum prison sentences and revoking of all diplomatic privileges. No one species will be allowed to hide behind the customs of their people we so charitably work to ensure remain uninhibited for all else."

"Well good, this was the one and only time. I'm really in the clear then."

While the Chancellor continued on about sanctions being imposed on Republic Intelligence, she slowly drifted away from the table. Her hands eventually went to her face to muffle out her great sigh of relief. For once, she wasn't bothered in the slightest by a hand being placed on her arm.

"Another burden off your shoulders, how do you feel Tegama?"

Her hands fell away from her face at last, reaching up with the free one to brush her lekku forward over her shoulders. "Better. A lot better." She looked up to Vaner with a small smile. "Thank you again. I really do wish I could stay here longer and not worry about who follows me."

"There's always another time. Who knows, you may see me on Coruscant at some point eventually. I intend to work towards restoring relations between the Reformed and the Order."

"Good luck with that. Er, I mean…" She bit down on her lip. "I don't know a good alternative to that. Sorry."

"It's appreciated nonetheless." His hand moved away from her arm at last while he led her back out into the hallway. "While you're here, might I recommend visiting one of the stores just off the marketplace? The technician there is a good friend of ours, he disassembles, refurbishes and even constructs lightsabers and their key components for the Reformed and those in need of unique parts. Mother mentioned that you had yet to complete your lightsaber."

"I'll take a look tomorrow before I head out then."

She left the complex grounds shortly after. While a little faster than she had expected, her visit had still proven to be well worth the trip over for so many reasons she could barely begin to count them. The only regret remaining was that she wouldn't have more time to meet some of the others properly.

* * *

It was a mild blow to Jayden's mood to see Zariba sitting in the kitchen area, looking even more defeated than ever. Sooner or later, her spirit would begin to break, and that would surely make things worse when it came time to return her to Seradan.

She could tell Dana was not going to budge on the matter however, and thus chose to avoid the subject. There were other things she had to ask of her after all.

Izan on the other hand greeted her with a polite nod. "The maintenance crew says they can have the new shield generator ready by noon tomorrow. Didn't think it was worth pushing for an overnight job when we'll be getting rest here anyway."

"Good, I get the feeling Maarani won't push for a fast departure after taking a five hour walk, but that will ensure she rests properly."

"She doing okay?"

Jayden's lips began to twist. What answer could possibly cover everything that had happened without causing more questions, or an incident when Maarani got back?

"Don't ask about Azera Vass, that's all I'll say."

Not long after, Dana finally escorted Zariba back to her cabin and began to return to the common room, as Jayden had been waiting for. She stopped her in the corridor outside and nodded to the port cargo hold.

Even after the door was sealed shut, she remained hesitant. After all, she already had a strong feeling she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear.

"On the bridge just outside Khoonda, you told Maarani that you're only mentally thirty years old, and you only had Sereti's word to go on."

Dana's arms began to fold. "Right?"

"That's completely at odds with your rant at Sereti herself, calling her a bratty young woman among other things. And if you actually do remember that time, including Surik and her decisions, why lie to Maarani?"

After several moments of glancing around, feeling very tense, Dana finally sighed and relaxed her posture. "I didn't want to tell her that it was her own father who destroyed the old me, and created the one you see now."

Jayden began to feel a little sick from the shock. She had only met the man a handful of times at large gatherings, but even that had painted a vastly different impression.

"I love her too much to destroy what little hope she has left by ruining the image she has of her father. Sereti would have come out with far too much for her to handle, and it would have crushed her. I refuse to let that happen."

"Love her? What do-"

This time it was Dana's turn to wave away any questions. "It's a complex situation. In short, part of a plan I gave to her father involved a purified crystal of my blood. It is what separates my people from normal humans and humanoids." She turned her head away slowly, no longer wanting to see Jayden's continued look that made her feel all kinds of uncomfortable. "Maarani carries the blood of Masadar, of Rilana, and myself. With her parents gone, I really am the closest blood relative left to her."

She took a strong breath before turning back to her. "Mandalorians adopt others into their family, regardless of race or age. For my people, the bond does actually extend to blood in tradition. And whatever I must do to protect Maarani, from the galaxy, and from herself, I will do."

Jayden backed away slowly, only so that she could turn around herself to try and comprehend what had been revealed to her. It explained a lot of her protective behaviour. And yet there was still something off about it all.

"You're not actually identifying your race for a reason then. Did the Mandalorians do something terrible to them, generations before I was born? Is that why you have been so passively hostile towards me?"

"I am only looking out for her interests, this has nothing to do with the Mandalorians leaving my people to die at the hands of the Jedi!"

There was immediate regret at her outburst. If Izan, or Maarani herself was out there in the corridor at that moment…

"Dana, what the hell are you talking about? The Neo-Crusaders didn't ally with other races in their war with the Republic."

And there, Dana found herself in the true moment of conflict. She could shut down any further discussion, and pray that Jayden would accept her need for silence and continue to protect Maarani. Or, she could take the risk of losing her trust altogether by coming out with the truth.

She chose the latter at long last.

"My people fought alongside the Crusaders, the original ones, under Exar Kun. When they retreated, when Kun fell and the war ended, my people were next."

The room began to grow darker as she stepped towards Jayden. Her normally brown eyes began to wash out, into a distinct shade of lavender.

"No-one remembers the Vahla anymore. The Jedi committed genocide of both the people and the culture. Every single reference to their name was destroyed. Their homeworld is now lost to the void because they erased every single reference and stellar path leading to it in all the records across the galaxy. I'm host to the memories of a living relic of a dead race. All I have left is Maarani, and I will protect her to my dying breath."

For all that had just been revealed to her, Jayden took the simple point behind it all for what it was. There was no wish for sympathy, or apologies, or any of that. "I am not my ancestors, on either side of my heritage. I might not have liked being put on this assignment to begin with, but I won't abandon it now."

She looked around when the encroaching darkness receded, and Dana's eyes returned to their normal colour. Immediately she could tell there was still more to come.

"That's not everything, is it? By my word Dana, I won't betray confidence now. I do need to know everything if I am going to properly protect her."

Dana's lip started to tremble, right before she turned away to hide the result of her small outburst. When she did calm back down, it was with an affirming breath, and a quick look around the ship itself with Force sight to be certain Maarani had yet to return.

"It's taken me awhile to notice, her confession about Blue Squadron activities tipped me off, but there is something very dark, very bad hiding inside her. I think it's a Sith mind, and I would stake my life on that Sith being directly related to why her connection to the Force was cut off."

"What? I've been told repeatedly it happened when she crashed on a planet-"

"That wouldn't have done it. If she were to cut herself off, it would have been directly in response to the massacre, not after it. And a crash is not enough to cause such a devastating mental break. Someone else is involved."

"And this Sith supposedly inside her?"

Dana wiped her eyes clear before she was able to shed any tears. For the time being, they both had to appear strong for Maarani. "I'm still looking into a way to get it out of her safely. I was terrified Bastila would sense it and try something stupid. Because if it gets out on its own, Maarani's mind will be destroyed. Just like Suroni before me. Only the one that replaces her will be far worse, and have the powers of a dark empath at their disposal."

She glanced back over her shoulder at Jayden. "Kiarna may have tried to get at it. Masaka almost certainly will if she gets the chance. Sereti is going to reveal that truth and assume she can stop the Sith, without any regard for Maarani herself. We are very much on our own in this matter, and if I can't find a solution, it will take a literal miracle to save her. Those are the stakes we are dealing with, Jayden Mires."

They both turned to the doorway when they heard Maarani clamour inside at last. Just moments away from setting things in motion far too soon.

"We need to get Zariba off the ship before then. And possibly Izan too, they're both in danger."

"I'm working on that. But we cannot push Maarani much further after all she's been through. Patience is what I need most right now, until I come up with a new plan." Dana sighed as she reached for the door panel at last, hoping for them both to leave the cargo hold before Maarani noticed.

"It was my plan that brought Maarani into existence to begin with. I pushed Masadar into breeding with Rilana. She's my responsibility now, and she'll learn that when it's safe to tell her."


	40. Slavery is Bad for Business

The arrival at Ketaris, in contrast to Dantooine, was a tedious wait in orbit for clearance, and then a wait for a designated landing zone somewhere close enough to The Watcher, and then a wait for a clearance in that designated landing zone, and then another wait for them to clean up the clearance. And then yet another wait before they were allowed to land for scanning.

When word of one more wait after landing for a decontamination pass came, Maarani shouted expletives at them and closed the comm link.

This time she got a word in before even Dana could remark. "I am getting better about trying not to swear! This was just a really, really, really bad exception."

"Actually, I agree that it was excessively frustrating. But you can still express that frustration without swearing."

"Yeah yeah, I'll get over it eventually."

They both left their seats at that point, making their way through to the common room where the other three had gathered. For once, they were actually organized.

"Alright, to refresh. Izan looks at getting some weapons at long last for the ship, and while they do that he goes on a crash course in starship piloting. Without the crashing."

Izan grimaced at the incredibly poor choice of words.

"Dana, Jayden and myself go to meet The Watcher. We find out what her deal is, go through with it, and hopefully be done by the time the upgrades are complete. In and out before anyone has a chance to notice. This is a neutral world, so we keep the ship on lockdown until one of us is able to come back and guard it alongside Cecile. It'll also probably be our last stopover for a while if I get a good idea of where Yuthura went. We good?"

They all nodded, including Cecile in the back.

"Good. Izan, I'll draw up a rough layout of what weaponry I want where. Do what you can to get the right parts at a decent price, and don't skimp."

"Assuming we'll still have enough credits, I'll do my best."

Dana tossed over the earpieces that had been obtained earlier, placing one in hers as well. "It's possible we will be out of direct contact for some time, and holocommunicators are notoriously easy to track on worlds without proper encryption networks. These are primitive, but they'll do the job." She tossed the specialized one to Maarani. "Hold onto that for now. It's designed to fit under a headpiece, but in a pinch you can just hold it up."

Maarani carefully placed it in a top pocket of her jacket, next to the small holdout blaster Izan had given her all that time ago.

"Those personal shield generators I obtained are in the weapon locker. They're a crude model, five charges each at most before they're drained altogether. If anything happens, pick up two at least, one on each arm, and be ready to use them. With any luck they won't be necessary."

Cecile spoke up at long last, her lower arms perched on her hips in an indignant way while her upper ones folded over her chest.

"And what about me? I've been placed on guard duty for several stops now!"

This time it was Maarani's turn to interject. "You're the one who bought four blasters. And seeing as the ship is now running just fine there's little else for you to do. Unless Dana's unexpectedly pregnant."

"What?"

"I did say unexpectedly."

"Well I can absolutely assure you that I'm not."

"Whatever, it was an example. We move out in fifteen minutes. City map will be downloaded to the holo table in the comm room any moment now. Get a good look at it, memorize where we are right now, don't get lost. Let's get going."

* * *

They were out of the ship exactly fifteen minutes later as described. Izan was immediately off to the spaceport office in the same building complex, while Maarani, Dana and Jayden were headed south-east towards the described meeting point. All three were back in their usual attire, Jayden's armor looking notably more polished. And with the helmet on, they blended in rather well as two people being escorted by a large Mandalorian. Anyone looking for people based on that description alone would be extremely hard pressed to spot them out of all the other varied groups they passed by on the way.

When they reached a network of thinner alleys, where the more unsavoury types were to be found, they picked up the conversation at last to truly appear casual.

"So, how was your visit to that store?"

Maarani knew Dana was referring to the lightsaber parts in an indirect way. It was pleasing to know she had improved her nondescript banter since they first set foot on _Twa'janii Station_.

"Quite pleasant. The merchant there was very helpful, gave me good prices for some fine pieces."

"And have you gotten around to putting them to use yet?"

"No, I'm waiting for the right time. When it feels right to complete the puzzle. It's waited eight years after all."

In that time, they had passed at least three different drug merchants, some shady beggars that deliberately avoided to avoid the possibility of being shanked in the leg for not paying a passer-by fare, and at least one Twi'lek woman dressed in so little that in turn exposed so much that Maarani was barely able to keep herself from throwing up. There were certainly a wide variety of female bodies she didn't ever want to see, especially not to that extent.

The location itself was set in the back of a gambling parlour, the clamour of which they could hear through the thin walls. The room they had been guided to was a reeking den in the very real sense, the very air was foul with all manner of toxic drugs that both Dana and Jayden were barely able to keep free of Maarani's airways.

Shocking by comparison was that the occupants themselves otherwise seemed like decent people. A pair of Bith in clothing so flamboyant that Maarani again felt like vomiting. Some humans in all variety of rather formal clothing sprawled out over each other on a lounge while they sipped away at spice flutes. A Sullustan in one corner was muttering away to himself about whatever was supposedly flashing before his eyes. In front of a second doorway was a surprisingly thin Gamorrean woman.

"Got an appointment?"

Maarani nearly jumped at the use of Basic by the Gamorrean herself. As far as she was aware, the only other Gamorrean capable of that was serving in the Republic military as a general. To find one in a drug den on a backwater planet of all places…

"Actually we do. Uh, assuming that it's The Watcher behind there."

The Gamorrean grunted, folding her arms.

"I'm Maarani. Vaner Shan contacted her on my behalf."

That seemed to catch her attention. After another grunt of thought, she unfolded her arms and banged the door open with her fist.

"No trouble. She will know before you even think about drawing a blaster."

"Believe me, no trouble is exactly what I want from this visit. To this entire planet I mean."

"Just get inside. All of you."

Maarani stepped through, looking over her shoulder to the others once inside the small passageway beyond. Jayden would have to duck down for some distance it seemed.

The passageway opened up to a room that looked as if it were straight out of a Corellian mystic legend. Crystals of all shapes and cuts were dangling from the ceiling, refracting the solitary light in the centre into an endless display of colour. Underneath the light was a plain table with two chairs facing each other. The other side of the room was cordened off by a thick curtain.

It was from behind the curtain that a voice spoke at last.

"Tega Maarani will sit. Dana Lauran and Jayden Mires will stand."

"Tega Maarani? As if there aren't enough variations of my name out there…"

She did as instructed, moving in to sit on the chair facing towards the curtain.

At last, The Watcher made her appearance. True to the room itself, and the one they had come through, she looked rather well kept, but also had an eccentric nature to her. The full dress piece wrapped around her body and tied at the waist looked strangely off-colour from what it once had been. Her thick mess of short hair splayed in all directions. And despite being indoors, she had a thick pair of black goggles that covered her eyes completely.

Maarani could barely make out a large burn scar extending out from beneath them on the left temple. She soon realized it was similar enough to the wound that had claimed some of Bastila's fingers, and the eyes of her former squadmates. The wound of a lightsaber strike.

"You seek Yuthura Ban, a friend I have not seen in such a long time? Why?"

At first, Maarani could only swallow. There was something odd, and yet familiar about The Watcher's face. Perhaps it was the purple lipstick coating her lips?

"It's a long story. I wish to learn from her, ask if she can do anything to heal a wound that has plagued me for eight years. The sort of wound that goes beyond what Force healers can manage."

"Oh really?" The Watcher smiled, leaning a little closer. Her painted nails glinted in the light reflecting around them. "You don't look like a Wound. You don't smell like one, or sound like one. I know what true Wounds in the Force are like, and you are not one. Why then, do you describe yourself that way?"

Maarani swallowed again. "Okay, it wasn't a good choice of words. I've lost my connection to the Force, and I want to get it back. Yuthura is the closest I have to a family member, and as far as I know that's what's related to how I was cut off in the first place."

Behind her, both Dana and Jayden looked at each other in a knowing way.

That fact didn't escape the sight of The Watcher, but she was very careful to keep that to herself. "Why should she restore what was lost, if you cannot reclaim it yourself? The gift of the Force is not to be taken lightly. If you were meant to have it, it would have returned by now. So perhaps, it was never yours to keep."

Again, Maarani found herself thinking, rather than reacting. Perhaps that was exactly the point. It would be so easy to lash out in a moment of anger at having her reasons questioned. If she wanted to proceed, she had to be smart about it.

"My 'gift' developed far too late in life, just before I turned sixteen. I've never had proper Jedi training, I don't know where to begin on undoing the damage myself. And believe me, I have already tried so many times on my own. Finding her is the best option I've thought of yet."

The Watcher leaned back at last, those purple lips curving up into a smile. Her hand lifted up to brush through her mess of hair that somehow still looked reasonable for it. "Fair enough. I don't believe my contact has an exact location, but he did have direct contact with Yuthura Ban as I stated in the message I believe. He may be able to point you in the right direction, figuratively. He may have a message from her to you if she is in fact close to the family. Or they might simply have met to settle an old debt, I just can't be sure."

Maarani crumpled her lips in a bit of a frown. Most of that she didn't want to think about, and yet it was that last exact possibility she hated that seemed the most plausible.

"I'll take the chance. You also said in the message that meeting with your contact would require special arrangements. Are we talking money, drugs, what?"

The smile that The Watcher formed made Maarani extremely uncomfortable.

"It's really quite simple. In order to get an actual private audience with him that won't draw the attention of others, you'll have to play the part of a slave dancer. The fact that you're a young Twi'lek woman just fits oh so perfectly."

At that, Maarani nearly threw the table over in anger. Instead, she settled for standing up in a start. "You stupid fucking racist bitch! Take that back!"

"And there goes the swearing…"

"Shut up Dana!"

It didn't faze The Watcher in the slightest, who instead rose in return to meet her gaze. "I won't step back on what just happens to be conveniently true. Twi'lek slave dancers are prized, and they are among the few that are so out there that they become completely inconspicuous. Put a headdress on, lose the jacket for a bikini and tassels, and Tega Maarani becomes just another dancer. Smirged the Hutt won't have it any other way."

"A Hutt!? You actually want me to dance for a fucking Hutt to get the information!? After what they've done to my fucking people!?"

Dana grabbed both her shoulders at that to forcibly make her sit back down.

"Teegs, enough with the swearing. You knew the situation could call for unusual demands-"

"Oh yeah? Why don't you go in there with two loincloths and tassels? Or what about Jayden? Hell, send Izan in, he can lose the tassels altogether!"

"Dana Lauran has self-inflicted scars covering almost her entire body. Jayden Mires is a married woman, and has a cybernetic leg. Smirged the Hutt has no interest in male dancers, not even Zeltron male dancers. All of these reasons make them invalid for the task."

All three looked to The Watcher at that moment in stunned silence. For a woman they had just met, she had uncannily accurate information about them all.

"Tega Maarani, if you really do want to find Yuthura Ban, you will have to put aside your own racist views of the Hutts, swallow your pride and make sure you get that private audience with him, whatever it takes. This is my part of the deal fulfilled, if you choose to ignore it, that's everyone's time wasted and I will be very upset."

"Why, you busy in your double job as a pimp?"

"Oh, dear child…" The Watcher leaned in again, bringing her voided goggles right to Maarani's eyeline. "You don't know a thing about what I have planned, what I'm here to do. Please, be kind enough to follow the simple instructions I give, that you asked for to begin with. Besides, Smirged is not the kind of Hutt you think you know. I would not propose this if I felt it would put you in danger."

"Yeah that's totally reassuring. And I feel like I've heard that before as well."

Dana took that opportunity to finally pull Maarani away before she could make an even bigger mess of things. "Let me take it from here." When Maarani relented, she moved in front to take her turn at looking into The Watcher's concealed eyes. "She can't just waltz in there, someone in Smirged's employ has to hire her. Don't suppose that someone is also a contact of yours.

"Very perceptive, Dana Lauran." The Watcher handed over a small holomap of the city that highlighted another building. "There you will find someone who can fit Tega Maarani with the attire she will need. He will point you to a nearby club where the recruiter hangs around. He has had a recent drought of good dancers, many of them have left to work for other Hutts. From that moment on, you will not see Tega Maarani until her mission is completed. That is both a warning and an instruction not to interfere. You may only go there and confront Smirged directly if the dangers approaching Ketaris arrive sooner than I foresee."

Maarani was about ready to duck back into the tunnel back then, but she stopped and came back to the table at that. "Dangers?"

"A woman in white and a man in red will have a confrontation in the near future. They both seek to destroy you Maarani, you must be gone by then, as either one will prove more than a match for your two Jedi friends here. I doubt even I could stop the victor."

There was a small sigh from Maarani, her head ducking down. "Very helpful, thanks. When I get back, remind me to ask you about a Seer, a Witch and a Silent. And a Lady. And 'the One'. And Azera Vass. Oh and I might as well also ask you about what career path I should follow while I'm at it. And what I should wear tomorrow, what I should eat for dinner tonight. All those things."

"Alright I can't stand this any longer." Dana pulled Maarani back again, this time glaring at her until she finally went into the tunnel. "She's just obsessing over the partial recovery of blocked out memories. We didn't mean to trouble you more than she already has.

"It is quite alright, I can see why she assumed I would have answers to all those… questions? The important ones anyway. Perhaps if the confrontation is further away than expected, I can give thought to those concepts."

"Right, I'll leave you two to do all the fancy talk then." Jayden gripped Dana's shoulder lightly while ducking down to follow Maarani out.

Dana didn't speak again until she was certain they were both out of earshot, at which point she looked back to The Watcher.

"Really? The Watcher? Could you not make it any more obvious who you really are? It's incredible that Jayden didn't recognize you."

"She is not good with identifying people. I wonder how she has managed to last so long in the spy game with that acting against her, but that is her concern alone." The Watcher sat down at last, sighing as she reached up to move her goggles onto her forehead. Behind them were the two vacuous holes that were her eye sockets, emptied so many years earlier.

"You know better than anyone how important it is to keep Tegama mentally stable. Sending her off to dance for a Hutt after all she's been through is idiotic at best!"

Visas sighed, rubbing around the lightsaber scar of a more recent event. "Better a young Twi'lek woman than a human in her mid fifties. I am rather glad I didn't have to see Surik in similar attire at the time." She cleared her throat once the dull pain had subsided. "In any case Tega needs to learn to overcome her ingrained attitudes about others. It's a vital part of preparing her to face the Sith. And she is headed towards that point regardless of what any of us do. I sensed that Sereti was disinterested in trying to train her normally."

"Oh yeah, about that. She stepped down to have Brianna take over. I knew she was no good from the moment she set foot in the Temple."

At that, Visas smiled again, her empty gaze focusing right on Dana. "So, you remember your life as Suroni? I'm glad to see your priorities are better than ever for it. And while it is unfortunate to hear that my student and friend is lacking in leadership skills, it was still necessary to prepare her for what is to come."

"And what would that be?"

The smile faded, Visas standing back up once more. "My former master of old is returning. Every day, I hear his whispers from Katarr. There is a Wound in the sky where he tore open my vision of the Force; he is seeping through it. Without my true master there to save us again, I can only let the bare minimum travel there to fight and destroy him. Sending the Jedi into battle would feed his power too quickly, I needed to make unique preparations towards that end."

"And that began with abandoning us when the Sith returned?"

"I needed to remain independent with my thoughts. There are many beings surfacing in the Force now. The Lord of Hunger is returning, the Lord of Pain has become the Lady of Pain in Kiarna. The Lady of Sorrows resides within Tega Maarani. I have felt the Lady of Betrayal's echoes in the distant presence of her sister, but there is something different about her. Some discrepancy I cannot determine, thus I doubt Masaka is destined to become the new Darth Traya."

Her smile returned once more. "I know you still carry a shard of the Lady of Rage within you. She is growing stronger as well, she could be of use against the Sith if you are capable of controlling the power she wields."

"Vahl has turned her back on me, Visas. I may still wield the powers of the Chosen, but she will not speak to a Jedi. The Ember is of no use to anyone but herself."

"Perhaps that is for the best. With so many dark aspects of the Force at work, allowing more to surface without certainty would be tenuous at best. In any case, I think that is all we have to discuss."

Dana's own lips tightened at that, her arms beginning to fold. Something else was bothering her.

"Only one Lord in all of that. Since when has the dark side leaned towards the feminine so strongly?"

"You'd have to ask the Lady of Balance about that, an aspect somewhere between the dark and the light, but I doubt she would answer to you. So far, it seems there are only two she actively converses with. And I must call upon the assistance of one of them to defeat the Lord of Hunger."

It didn't take long for Dana to work out the first of those two. "No. Teegs is in no way ready to fight Darth Nihilus. I won't let you take her to Katarr."

Visas smiled one last time before replacing her goggles and beginning to step backwards towards her curtained area.

"Azera Vass is the other, Dana Lauran, I have learned her name and nothing else. But something has bound the two souls together, the Lady of Balance is calling to them both as a result. Azera Vass and Sereti Pala will help me defeat Darth Nihilus, this much I have foreseen. I cannot guarantee that any of us will survive however; you must be prepared to confront the Lady of Sorrows if Tega learns her soulmate is dead."

Dana reached a hand up to the throbbing vein in her temple region. "Even I'm beginning to question all this prophesying and excessive explaining in metaphor and fancy names. But, I know when to keep it all to myself. I suppose in this case it's to spare others the headache."

She finally began to make her way into the tunnel as well, but in a rather obvious move, had to stop and look back over for that hanging question.

"Lady of Balance? Where the hell does she fit in? And how do you know so much about something that has never spoken to you?"

The curtains closed once Visas was behind them.

"She saved me from the Devouring at Katarr. Of all the Jedi and those of my kind, I was chosen by her to live on. I've received impressions from her actions over these past years, impressions that guide me to a destination I feel is drawing near. The galaxy, the Force as we know it is about to change."

* * *

The walk over to the next point of contact was almost entirely composed of Maarani grumbling yet more expletives to herself, this time either in Ryl or Mando'a. Jayden was never more glad for having her helmet on at that point.

And as if the strangeness of a Gamorrean that spoke Basic working in the middle of effectively nowhere wasn't enough, the one that was supposedly there to dress her for the part was there to blow it out of the water.

"A Wookiee? You don't even wear clothes!"

"Arrauaaah!"

"Oh spare me! I don't speak or understand the language!"

"Raaragh!"

Once again, Dana had to step in before Maarani's sudden compulsion to shout got out of hand. "The Watcher knows what she is doing, okay? Isn't the whole point of being secluded that all your contacts are exactly what you'd never expect them to be?"

The Wookiee nodded in agreement, even though that was directed at Maarani herself.

By that point, she was barely able to keep herself from going mad at the thought of it all. "The last time I stripped down when I wasn't about to bathe… Hell I don't remember that time, and that still scares me. So please do forgive the fact that I'm more than a little uncertain about all this."

"Teegs, think about it like this. Smirged isn't going to have men in that kind of gear. So, he'll have women in that kind of gear."

"Oh yeah, women in degrading gear designed to make them look vulnerable and show off sex appeal alone. I totally see the appeal."

Dana's hand impacted her face. "Teegs, for once in your life, get over it. You're not making a political statement, or exploring new career options, you're getting information. I can't believe after all the times you whinged and whined about wanting a girlfriend that the prospect of being surrounded by half-naked women is now pissing you off to no end."

"I'm supposedly soul-engaged to a married woman though, so-"

"Teegs, I'm really starting to get annoyed here. Do you want to find Yuthura or not?"

Maarani finally relented, albeit with a rather fierce scowl. "Fine. Fine fine fine. I'll go and embarrass myself for a clue. Next time I'd rather just yell at the Jedi until they answer me."

The two Jedi there shared a great sigh of relief when she finally followed the Wookiee through to another room beyond the uncomfortably vacant one they had been standing in.

"Yes Jayden, we can absolutely trust The Watcher in this matter. And no I'm not going to explain everything we discussed after we left, that will take days at least. I still need to wrap my head around most of it."

"Oh. Well at least I can maybe expect to actually be brought up to speed then. Thank you for not acting like you just decided to sit down awhile and whatever you talked about was irrelevant."

"I brought you into my trust, that is not something I do lightly or disregard easily. Depending on how long Teegs takes, I can possibly get you up to speed on it all." Dana made another cautionary glance around the room they occupied. No surveillance equipment, no listening devices.

The Wookiee probably already knew who The Watcher was, but knowing they knew could have other consequences she was already too confused to consider.

"Starting with the fact that you didn't recognize Visas Marr despite having being trained by her on several occasions if I'm not mistaken."

"Visas… what? That was her?"

Dana nodded.

"I genuinely didn't recognize her without the hooded veil. I suppose that explains the concealing bounty hunter goggles."

"The most I'll say here is that she is working on something far beyond anything we've tackled before with Teegs in tow. Azera Vass is tangled up in that mess as well, the fact that you've met her already tells me that we're in the middle of some elaborate course of events tied directly to the Force. It has drawn us all together, and Visas is trying to work out what the reason is for it. Hence the overload of theories and strange concepts I need time to explain."

"I feel like I'm losing track as is…"

"Exactly my point. And if you're losing track, there's no way Teegs is going to be able to make sense of it anytime soon. Not until she's sorted all her other issues out."

The conversation dwindled after that. Jayden moved to a wall to lean back against, even taking her helmet off for a while. Dana didn't feel nearly comfortable enough to try meditation; instead she began reciting passages of text from the Archives that she had studied to try and make sense of what Visas had told her.

It was nearly a full half hour later when Maarani finally emerged, her normal clothes in hand, all neatly folded up. She passed them over to Dana and outstretched her arms, still clearly frowning beneath the veil that left only her eyes visible.

"I feel utterly ridiculous."

Just like her favoured dress, what cloth there was underneath the massive array of glittering beads was aquamarine in colour, weighted to match her own skin tone. The headdress itself was a dark navy; Jayden could make out the shape of the earpiece underneath the stretched fabric seeing as it was the only place she felt comfortable looking.

Dana had no inhibitions or concerns, taking the moment to look Maarani over with a very straight face. The scars in her back did stand out with how little there was as far as tie-arounds went, but they were still insignificant compared to the ones adorning her own body.

"It'll do. You certainly look the part, and if I didn't know you for several months I certainly wouldn't recognize you from a hologram."

"That isn't going to fix the fact that some might recognize my voice."

"Not the important part. Better that they only recognize you up close in talking distance, than from afar through…"

She chewed on her tongue when Maarani turned around, glaring more than ever at her.

"Dangerous people, not perverts. They're not always the same thing."

"I'm going to find it very hard to tell the difference in this crap, thank you very much."

Dana walked back around, then gave a small nod with a sigh. "Got protection?"

Maarani's middle finger went up.

"Your holdout blaster. Where is it?"

"I found a place to hide it. Old trick of mine."

"There's that at least."

"No guarantees there won't be someone losing their fingers, or more, if they try to touch me."

Dana rolled her eyes again, only it wasn't accompanied by a cautionary word or disapproving comment about her behaviour. "It won't come to that Teegs. The Watcher will let Smirged know you're coming, he'll probably make special arrangements that otherwise don't seem out of the norm for his usual routine. And he'll also probably let you know who these 'other people' he's being watched by are."

Maarani nodded at that, her scowl softening down a bit. Something about that was oddly making her feel less apprehensive about meeting with a Hutt. If he had enemies, and he was also willing to work with her, that meant those enemies were presumably people she would have little issue with killing. And at the very least, that was something she could focus on over the fact that she was meant to swing her hips about provocatively.

"Work it out as I go, fine. Let's get going."

For the walk to the next location, she wrapped a comfortably warm cloak around her entire body, and used that opportunity to become accustomed to the beaded high sandals that had wrappings extending right up over her ankle to the middle of her shin. Ironically, she felt almost Jedi-like with the cloak, except no Jedi would ever allow themselves to be caught in such atrociously exposed styles.

The first real test came when she had to drop the cloak in a corner of of the cantina to give a very blatantly half-assed attempt at dancing for the recruiter, a Duros man that time. She didn't need the Force to feel all those eyes gravitating towards her, and the temptation to draw her blaster and begin shooting down some people then grew stronger and stronger until she finally made a passable attempt at the routine.

While retrieving her cloak, something she did by very deliberately bending her knees first, she made one last nod to Dana to assure herself that there was still an understanding of trust between them. The moment had come at last where she was going to be separated from two of her closest friends, and after having them watching her back for so long, that prospect was a scary one indeed.

The walk from the cantina to Smirged's estate was shorter than she had expected, and that was already a great relief to her. Compared to the disgusting applause she had almost gotten at the cantina, she could now feel discerning looks made in her direction that felt just as uncomfortable in a different way. They saw a Twi'lek being escorted by a Hutt recruiter, and the conclusion was obvious. She wasn't sure if they were leaning towards disapproval, or more insidious thoughts.

Never was she more glad to see a Hutt establishment. The gateway itself was guarded by two tall humanoids that didn't even glance at her as she passed through. Further in at the trade hall, the groups they passed were far less rowdy, composed of business-types, clean mercenaries and a mix of both Republic and Imperial officials occasionally thrown in.

The grand hall surprised her more; it lacked the usual display of greed that she often associated with Hutts. The building itself looked nice without being garish or excessive in decoration, again rather like the people they had passed earlier. The sort that were somehow wealthy and yet removed from the usual taint of dirty business and underhanded behaviour.

And then came the audience room. Through a pair of large doors, attended to by more guards, she could see the Hutt himself. A very faint blue in tone, with mottled patches of purple running down his back, and an unusually long form to his body. It was a much older Hutt, and yet he somehow looked actually passable.

"Nusogah! Uba koose je chik youngee ateema?"

'Nusogah' nodded, muttering some words in Hutteese, which sounded nearly incomprehensible to Maarani given the Duros vocal chords.

Smirged chuckled to himself, then motioned to Nusogah who made a swift departure. His attention then turned to Maarani herself.

"My apologies if he has appeared rude, he has never had a strong grasp on the finer points of Basic, like myself as you might notice. I also speak proper Ryl if you do not understand Basic either."

Maarani nearly fainted from surprise at hearing Smirged speak so fluently in Basic. Compared to the mutterings of the Duros, he might as well have been Alderaan born and raised for how clean it sounded.

"I understand Basic, master." She tried very hard not to get that last bit out through gritted teeth.

Again to her surprise, Smirged laughed.

"Dear girl, you may address me by name. You are not to be made subservient here. Everyone around you is in my employ, not my service." He gestured his stumpy arms to the other Twi'lek girls and the guards around the room. "It is a simple regulation of the Cartel manifest that adequate entertainment in the form of dancers be ready for any business meeting conducted on Hutt property. But you need not concern yourself with the legalities of Hutt affairs, they are truly vast and convoluted in many ways."

Beneath the veil was one of Maarani's most dumbfounded looks to that moment. The Watcher was exactly right in that Smirged defied all her expectations, but it was in ways that she just didn't know how to respond to in the slightest. Dancers and servants actually considered employees? Needing someone to fill in for a business requirement?

"I see from your stupor that you are not used to this kind of treatment. It is not surprising, many of my former dancers have left for other Hutts out of actual disappointment that they would not be treated like slaves. To this day I do not understand just how the mindset of enjoying it could be so thoroughly ingrained in these young minds. It truly concerns me that it might have become a cultural phenomenon among Twi'lek as a whole."

That opened up even more questions. Too many to count, to even consider. It almost seemed like an elaborate hoax, a truly inspired way to trick Twi'lek into believing they were perfectly safe in his care and make them so utterly willing to serve him anyway.

When she did finally find words to say, she nearly blurted them out in a mix of Mando'a and Ryl before correcting herself to Basic at last. "I… I'm… I'm really confused, yes? I've spent literally ten minutes trying to perfect the usual dancing style for this moment."

She nearly punched herself for being so utterly stupid. Admitting that it was only ten minutes?

"You will have time enough to learn. The girls will instruct you well."

Smirged gave a heavy clap of his hands. Every one of the Twi'lek girls standing around moved to all various doorways leading out of the audience room. One of them approached Maarani to guide her to where most of them were headed.

"Come. You sit with us. We teach."

"Uh, right, yeah that sounds good."

Maarani could tell that the Twi'lek guiding her by the arm was one of those who only understood enough Basic to say that to new prospects by how wooden her words sounded, and the fact that her lekku moved to accompany the equivalent words in Ryl as she said all that.

At the service room, as it was so labelled by convenient little signs in Aurebesh, she found yet another welcome surprise. A lot of the Twi'lek women there were rather more free in attire than she had expected. While there were those that had similar looks to what remained under her cloak, quite a few were in simple robes that looked ready to fall off at a moment's notice without the waist ties, but still a step up from being left in the near nip.

It also occurred to her then that Smirged hadn't even made mention of the fact that she was still cloaked and veiled. Very odd indeed.

"Pick spot. Help job when not dance."

"Great, does that involve cooking? I'm no good with spices or anything."

"Men cook and clean. Women other jobs."

Maarani smirked at that. "For once, I'm actually glad there's men around after all."

Her escort frowned in confusion at that before giving a bit of a firm shove to make her step into the room itself. By then she had drawn the attention of the others, who began whispering to each other.

"If any of you happens to be friends with a dancer on Citadel Station at Telos… It wasn't my fault I swear."

Based on the confused looks, none of them were in fact friends with that one Twi'lek that despised her for no real reason.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way…" She looked back over her shoulder to see if the other woman was there. To her relief, she had already gone off to another room.

After a breath of relief, she moved further on inside, cautiously stepping around the many cushions strewn around the sitting area to get a better look at the array of labelled doors on the other two walls ahead. Many of the 'other jobs' that they mentioned seemed decent enough, though those on the far left of her had a few connotations that made her uneasy. That wing of the building wasn't just coincidentally where many of the guest quarters were located.

She made a point about steering as far away from those doors while moving towards the corner passage opposite where she had come through. Beyond was a mirrored hall that she soon realized was a practise room for performance of all kinds. Apparently Smirged's interest in dancers was more for performing full acts than just being something to look at. By then she was becoming used to his eccentricities.

"New girl huh? Still nervous about taking the cloak off I see. Why don't we try warming you up to the idea before someone gets bothered."

Maarani had only just noticed a new Twi'lek arriving at the door via the reflections to her right. That immediately told her it was a Lethan woman in tight clothing. When she turned around however, her jaw dropped altogether.

"By the living Goddess…"

"What? I'm not a Sith if that's what you're thinking, kinda silly to think that just because I have red skin."

In a beat, Maarani dashed over and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the room just out of view while the other tore her veil away, allowing her to lock lips with the last person she had expected to see there.

When they parted, she gave a nervous chuckle and began adjusting her lekku. "Nurrina. I thought you were gone forever when the Zygerrians took you."

Nurrina stared back in mild surprise for a few seconds, certainly not bothered by the forward display of affection. It took her longer to recognize a face she too had not seen in nearly nine years. When she did, her own lit up with joy.

"Tega! It's really you Tega?"

They locked lips again, only this time their arms spread around each other's waists, just as they used to. After a long hold, they both parted with an ecstatic sigh.

"Nurrina, I mean… Wow, you still look amazing."

"And you look…" Nurrina actually looked down at last, blushing a little more with a smirk when she saw what was under the cloak. "Really Tega? I thought you were gonna join the military, how'd you end up as a dancer?"

"Long story. And I mean, really, really long and convoluted and strange and crazy and weird story. How'd you get away from Zygerria?"

"Long story too. Well, actually it's short and simple, but it can wait." Nurrina straightened the cloak back out, leaving her arm to find its way around Maarani's waist so that she could guide her through to a different doorway and hall. "They won't miss you for a while yet if you're new. Longer you stay here, the more crabby the Smirged veterans get when you don't pull your weight, it's weird like that."

"Oh yeah, I'm starting to figure everything here is weird, with men cooking and cleaning, legit business people coming and going, not to mention a Hutt who speaks Basic, is super polite, and supposedly pays everyone who works here including the Twi'lek girls."

"More than supposedly. If you're here to stay, you really chose the perfect Hutt to come work for."

Maarani quickly realized they were heading into what she assumed was the guest wing after all, but soon realized was actually staff quarters. Nurrina's own room was quite nicely decorated, and for the time being Maarani herself was able to forget about the implications of what she had seen in the service hall.

The door was soon closed behind her, as were shutters on the window looking out over one of the many gardens. With another glance to Nurrina, she finally undid the tie of her cloak and pulled it aside.

Nurrina's warm, admiring smile was still quite good at putting her at ease. "You've certainly grown in nine years. In all the right places." Her smile remained as Maarani moved around to find a seat, but quickly vanished when she noticed the scars on her back. "Oh, oh Tega, what happened?"

It took a while for Maarani to take notice of what had her old girlfriend worked up. And there began the complex task of trying to catch her up as well. "I was in the military, got pushed over to starfighter pilot. The scars are just from when my fighter blew up one time, I'm fine now."

The explanation only softened Nurrina's worried look by a slight amount. "You make surviving an exploding ship sound like one of my girls stubbing their toe. Not to mention that sounds a lot worse than what I thought."

"Your girls? You mean the ones you train as dancers or whatever, right? Not actual…"

"No, not even once." Nurrina finally moved into a nearby seat when Maarani sat up on the bed. "Nasty as the Zygerrians are, they are extremely ruthless in punishing anyone who forces themselves on others, helpless slaves in particular. Probably the only thing that kept me sane until I was bought out from their grip was that comfort."

Maarani nodded solemnly. It was a subject she had quickly regretting going near, but there was all the more relief for knowing her slip-up was not of consequence. "Smirged, I take it?"

"Actually it was a trading company run by some woman named Mission. They've been using what extra funds they get to free unwilling slaves and get them back on their feet. I needed extra protection and a feeling of security after Zygerrian tyranny, she pointed to Smirged as someone vehemently against them, and I've been working here since."

"Mission saved you? The coincidences keep racking up."

"She part of that super complicated long story of yours I take it?"

Maarani nodded again. There was so much she wanted to tell Nurrina, but the harsh reality was that she had intended to be gone as soon as possible. And however nice Smirged seemed, Nurrina was working for a Hutt that still had unknown loyalties. What was and wasn't safe to tell her seemed impossible to tell apart.

"If you don't already know, the Jedi at the training grounds were killed by the Sith. Ma, Pa, Tilasa and Kadano were all there. And well, it's been an absolute nightmare of whiplash experiences since then."

Nurrina's concern returned, her head sinking back against the chair some more until her lekku began to splay out slightly. "What about Masaka?"

There came the first harsh truth that she was definitely uncertain about revealing.

"She was taken by the Sith, as far as I know. I've had a bit of a strained exchange with the Jedi since then."

The silence that followed gave Maarani more time to think. With so much to consider, there was a new question coming to mind that certainly deserved an answer. "Nurrina, didn't you see the speech I made about Mirial? It was a galaxy broadcast."

"Ketaris doesn't usually get broadcasts. I've had to relay messages to home through other worlds. My parents know I'm alright by the way."

"Sorry, I forgot to ask."

"It's quite alright. I can tell you've got a lot on your mind." Nurrina's lips tightened down when she noticed how much Maarani's hands were starting to shake. "You don't have to tell me about Mirial if it's gonna upset you, Tega. I really am so glad to see you're still alive and well, that's what matters most to me."

Maarani managed a smile again. With everything in mind, there were really only a few things that Nurrina absolutely had to know before all else.

"Nurrina, I didn't know it at the time you were taken, but I was starting to use the Force. I lost that ability a year later in an accident, and lately I've been trying to get it back, ever since I quit the military. I'm only here for a day or two at most, Smirged has information I need to ask him in private about."

As confusing as it was to try and make sense of, Nurrina was still able to put on a small smile and lean forward again to offer her support. "I knew you looked uncomfortable in a bead bikini. I guess if you wanted an appointment you would've gone through the front door, so I won't get in the way."

"I appreciate that, truly." Another breath, another moment closer to the issue she was still uncertain about herself. Before coming out with it, she moved back off the bed to be closer to Nurrina again, though this time it was not to embrace her.

"Nurrina. Just a few days ago, I attempted to reconnect to the Force. It told me something rather specific, relating to us."

"I see. What was it?"

Maarani slowly reached for her hand, holding it close and tight. For just how elated she was at finding her, she also loved her too much to not come clean with it outright.

"It told me I have a soulmate out there, Nurrina. Her name is Azera Vass."

Nurrina herself was still reeling with all the various emotions about their reunion. But at that moment, she knew exactly what Maarani needed from her. And that was support.

"Oh, Tega, that's wonderful! It must be amazing to have the Force itself guiding you that way. Have you found her yet?"

It wasn't the reaction Maarani had expected, but it certainly did go a long way to lifting her spirits on the matter. "Well, sort of. A friend of mine met her in person, they saved each other from a big mess some months back. But, well, Azera is a Sith for starters. And she already has a husband."

Immediately, she could see an identical reaction to her own at the time in Nurrina's changing expression. It was almost uncanny.

"Husband? I didn't think Sith bothered to marry. Aren't they supposed to be constantly watching for signs of betrayal?"

"There's a lot of weird Sith out there these days. And I trust my friend a lot, Mandalorian honour and all."

Maarani sighed at last, finally stepping back to sit on the bed again, taking the time to instead stare at the ceiling. "I guess I've been really in and out since learning all that. So much is happening all of a sudden, and then we're reunited and I can barely keep track of everything I want to tell you."

This time it was Nurrina's turn to leave her seat. She moved across the room deftly to sit down beside Maarani, once again wrapping an arm around her. "Hey, it's alright. It really sounds like you're getting to do so much, I'd go mad in a big adventurous life like that. I'm happy with the simpler life here. And finding out we're not soulmates after all doesn't mean we can't love each other still, right?"

Just like that, Maarani began to giggle, once again leaning into the hold of her old girlfriend. "You still know exactly what to say huh? Making me feel mature, so that we can talk about our relationship."

"That's the Tega I remember." She let the silence set in again, this time with a level of comfort that came with knowing they were safe together.

It lasted a good while before Maarani broke it at last, in a gentle way of course. "I'm so glad you're okay. The other two girlfriends since… They didn't end well at all."

"I'm real sorry to hear that." She gave a supportive squeeze to her shoulders, and a tender kiss to her cheek. "Here's hoping number four works out like a dream, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. I've got no idea how things are gonna go down with her though. I did make contact with her, she does know who I am and what the deal is now, but she was a bit standoffish."

"You'll work something out. You're strong. And probably spending way too much time with an old girlfriend, you've got secret spy stuff to do after all."

Maarani felt just a hint of disappointment when the arm fell away from the embrace, but it was an extra help in reminding her of why she came to begin with. With a small sigh she stood back up, waiting for Nurrina to do the same so she could hug her one more time.

"When I've sorted my life out, I'll come back to visit I promise. Maybe a little early to plan other things."

"Visits would be great. Now, don't forget your cloak."

For a moment, Maarani was ready to pull the cloak back around herself. After another look to Nurrina, she began to drape it over her arm instead. "Maybe it's about time I stop hiding so much."

"Whatever makes you comfortable Tega. Like I said, this really is one of the best places to let loose without worries."

Maarani smiled yet again before making her way out, having forgotten about why she had the veil on to begin with. Even if Ketaris wouldn't have seen her holographic appearance.

A few minutes after she was gone, Nurrina shut the door again and made her way over to a small communicator pad she had lying on the table. With a few adjustments, it began replaying a message she had received some time back.

" _To all field agents; this is Aruga. You are hereby instructed to maintain surveillance for a Rutian Twi'lek by the name of Tegama'Arani. She is accompanied by a Jedi, a Mandalorian, and a Zeltron. She has kidnapped Seradan'Kulure's daughter, Zariba. Extreme caution is to be taken in her presence, and all efforts are to be made in ensuring Zariba's safe return. Tegama's associates are not to be involved; liberate Zariba, then and only then kill Tegama._ "

Nurrina reached in under the collar of her tight shirt, drawing out a gold chain. On the end of the chain was the small pendant print of a tightly clenched fist.

"Find the mark, strike first. The Hidden Hand prevails. Tega, what have you been getting yourself into…"

* * *

By the time Maarani got back to the audience room, it was completely devoid of people, or any living thing really. She could still see others in the adjacent halls and rooms, so it was hardly as if the whole place had been spontaneously deserted. And yet there was no indicator of where Smirged had gone, or why even the guards had been asked to leave.

"This just gets weirder…"

She tossed her cloak over a nearby seat, now wandering the spacious room with a soft jangle of beads every time she took a step. When a quick search around the main area turned up nothing, she looked over to Smirged's raised section. For whatever reason, there was a long curtain behind it that she hadn't noticed the first time.

"What is it with curtains on Ketaris?"

After another glance around, she slowly approached the other side of the room, her sandals sinking deep into the carpet as it grew thicker towards the raised section. Presumably less and less people getting that close to Smirged in regular traffic, and then a noticeably flattened large strip that he presumably slid up and down on a regular basis.

With another affirming breath, she stepped around the section and carefully yanked at the curtain. Behind it was solid wall, nothing more.

"What did you expect to find behind there?"

She whipped her head around in a bit of a start, trying very hard not to yelp in fright while Smirged slid back into the room. Many of the other doors were beginning to slide shut.

"Well, for whatever reason I thought you and several others might be hiding behind there for a big surprise appearance. I'm kinda silly like that."

Smirged chuckled at that, barely noticing her own nervous laugh while he moved closer. "I am pleased to see your confidence has returned, Tega Maarani."

The use of that particular version of her name was in fact a relief, rather than the usual shock she'd feel at being identified first. It almost certainly meant he had been in contact with The Watcher through their own established means.

"I had some help with that." She cleared her throat and straightened up while walking back around as Smirged ascended the raised section through the exact path she had noticed earlier.

"Yes, the Lethan woman, Nurrina. It was only after I met your parents that I learned of the significance she was of to you."

Maarani looked around again. Every one of the doorways and halls leading into the room had been sealed off. Instinct told her it was to keep her trapped, but a different feeling told her it was to ensure total privacy between herself and Smirged. This was the opportunity spoken of, and it had come so soon already.

"You met my parents? Was this when the Zygerrians came to my village?"

Smirged nodded. "Very perceptive, Tega. Your father fought valiantly to ensure their safe return, while I, your mother and Yuthura worked to stop Toka the Hutt and the Zygerrian leader Kusrag from leaving. We spoke of many things following that, and I made a promise to continue working for the betterment of the Twi'lek race as a whole. An endeavour it seems I am increasingly alone in amongst my kind."

"Right… Well as many questions as that raises, and hell I'm bursting with them already, I came here for one reason."

"Yes, of this I am aware. I merely wanted to help provide some context on how I came to know Yuthura Ban, and the reasons why I have taken special precautions for this audience with you. They are directly related."

With one last look around, Maarani folded her arms across her chest and nodded. "Fine, let's hear it so I can go."

"For a while now, I have maintained relations with the Jedi where possible. This involved sending those Force sensitives I encountered in the ranks of slaves to them where they could live a better life. Thus, when Yuthura came to me, a little under eight years ago, I expected she was there to ask that I provide more direct support for the Jedi. It seemed I was wrong.

She was there to ensure your personal safety above all else. I was to spare no expense in rescuing and rehabilitating you if your name ever ended up in the Cartel database. She was entirely convinced of your significance to the Jedi, and thus I agreed to honour that request of hers. Unfortunately, she did not give me a direct indicator of where she planned to go, or any special instructions to relay to you personally if we did eventually meet. I believe at the time she did not even know where she was going herself."

Maarani reached up to her face again, partially because of a shocked realization, but primarily to gently feel around the tattooing still covered by her headdress. She had yet to meet the woman in person, but her interests were already being looked after by her.

"I don't know what to say. I was hoping for a direction to go in, but that…" She slowly turned around, pacing around over the thick area of carpet while she tried to think more.

"If my memory serves me well, I believe I can speculate on what she planned to do in her self-exile. Words such as 'ancient temples' and other synonyms were mentioned in physical Ryl while she spoke. Perhaps she had concerns about being overheard at the time I cannot say. Regardless, it is my speculation that she is seeking out Jedi ruins from lost ages, as I have observed most older Jedi do over the centuries. It may prove to be useful to your search."

Maarani nodded again, almost ready to smile in appreciation for a Hutt's help. It was only really beginning to settle in her mind as something that really was happening.

"It's a start, thank you."

"I am pleased to see a promise fulfilled, and an attitude changed, even if it is rather justified in the end." Smirged chuckled again when Maarani looked away in shame. "I am not one to be offended by assumptions of any kind. Most of the ire I receive comes from my own kind after all, including those of my spawn."

"Right, because Hutts are… yeah." Maarani dropped her arms again, mostly out of a feeling of confusion at how to proceed. It had gone by so quickly that she felt as if there were more to be done yet. "Why do I get the feeling you're about to ask a favour?"

At that, Smirged erupted in laughter. "Your perception is truly remarkable, Tega Maarani." When he settled back down again, he used a nearby cloth to clean his lips down again before continuing. "It is a unique and situational favour. I only ask it because I believe you will have a personal investment in carrying it out. Perhaps even a satisfaction to be gained."

"So long as it's not going where I think it is…"

"There are many spies among my employees, this much I know. I tolerate, and in some cases even welcome their presence, as there is a strange comfort in knowing I am worthy of being observed by so many unseen parties. One of these includes Republic Intelligence."

One hand went to Maarani's hip. "I assume you know I'm not in their good books?"

"Precisely why I believe you might just enjoy this favour. Very soon, within the next few days, they will send an agent of theirs to interrogate me. I do not know why, nor do I care. He will choose a time when my guards are elsewhere and I am unable to summon them without threat of danger. What he will not expect is that the young Twi'lek woman attending to me personally is trained to kill."

Maarani's head began to dip. "Becoming a hitman isn't really what I had in mind, but-"

"His name is Rako Durrun."

Her head lifted back up immediately. The doubt was immediately washed away.

"Yes, I have also read the files that were distributed across the galaxy, the ones relating to activities on Mirial. It seems we have a happy coincidence, in that I am about to be attacked by someone you have every reason to despise. You are not Jedi at this time, one death of a man who deserves nothing more will hardly become a stain on your conscience."

With yet another glance around, Maarani sighed, then finally nodded. "I'll have to let my crew know. But, I'm already armed, and you're right that I won't have a problem killing him. Guess I'm not becoming a dancer girl after all."


	41. Deadly in a Bikini

The conversation had been brief. Both Dana and Jayden had raised concerns over her effectively staying around to take an act of revenge to the stage of murder, to which she had made clear was hardly undeserved for a man that was entirely prepared to ruin her life. And with the ship in for the requested weapon upgrades, they weren't going anywhere for at least two days anyway. One more death that no-one would mourn after all else she had done would hardly matter, and they had begrudgingly agreed not to intervene.

Ever since being moved from new dancer to Smirged's personal assistant, she had gotten nothing but distrustful looks from all but Nurrina herself as far as her fellow Twi'lek were concerned. The sort of look that was uncannily like what the dancer on Citadel Station had given her. As if she was somehow special for being the one to do all the busy work for Smirged himself while they got to spend most of the day lounging around and looking pretty.

Word had also gotten around by then that she spent her nights in Nurrina's quarters, which might have contributed to the looks somewhat as it turned out that Nurrina herself was surprisingly well liked amongst the girls. And being involved with her apparently meant being a target on the odd chance she altered Nurrina's priorities. At least that was about all she could discern from the looks and discussions held behind her back.

The actual jobs involved with assisting Smirged were at least far less unappealing than she thought. As she had also noticed before, he was quite quick to keep his lips clean, indeed he was particularly hygienic by the standards she had come to expect from Ketaris as a whole. Nusogah would occasionally come by with a prospective applicant for work, only men that were looking for menial jobs as had been suggested by other conversations, while his other Twi'lek assistant, a Turian man that she had yet to hear the name of, made a daily appearance to discuss business affairs and glare at her if she wasn't actively pretending to be helpful.

The most she had to do was take things between Smirged and whomever he had dealings with at the time, and relay his instructions to other department heads. On one occasion her experience with Mando'a became useful in acting as a rough translator in the absence of a protocol droid on hand, which earned further praise from him and even more huffs from the other women.

It was mid morning of the third day when the encounter they had been anticipating finally arrived.

Maarani was laid out against Smirged's side, staring at the ceiling over the top of her since retrieved veil when an alarm went out through the building, one that indicated an intruder.

Quick to her feet, she glanced over at Smirged. He too had reached the same conclusion. Their meeting was about to happen.

She remained by his side until the arrival of Rako Durrun, looking just as she had remembered him on Mirial. Shortened dark hair, a mean look, nondescript clothing. This time he had one of the servants in a tight grip, a blaster pressed to her head. An uncomfortable reminder of how she had treated Zariba.

"Guards out! I am not a patient man today!"

"Do as he says!"

Smirged gave the Hutt equivalent of a nod to all the guards that had immediately trained their weapons on Rako. They remained ready with arms right until they moved into the adjacent rooms, closing the doors after all others had fled the audience room.

Maarani did her best to play the part of a frightened Twi'lek when the blaster was turned on her, leaving the other to flee as well.

"Now that I have your attention…" His free hand tossed a small device out onto the floor, bringing up a disproportionately large holo-projection of a file cluster. "I'm here from Republic Intelligence. We need all files described here destroyed from your records, and their patience is even thinner than mine."

Smirged took one look at the files before shrugging. "You threaten the lives of my staff over a failure in your own security measures? The days of Republic Intelligence are fast past the glory years it seems."

Rako tightened the hold on his blaster, tipping it towards Maarani's head. "The situation is a lot worse than you'd imagine, Hutt. There are rogue spies throughout every level of Republic and Imperial government, including the ranks of the Jedi and the Sith. Holding onto these files makes you a target for some extremely dangerous people. In fact, they're looking to kill anyone who has any involvement with a woman known as 'Maarani'. You'll be doing yourself a big favour by doing what I fucking say!"

"Yeah about that…"

Maarani took the risk by making her move while Rako was glaring at Smirged. One hand went up to pull her veil free, again. The other went right into her cleavage and retrieved the holdout blaster that had been wedged between her breasts from the moment she left Nurrina's room to the moment she was back inside. That was aimed right back at Rako by the time he noticed.

"You really wouldn't believe how much that chafed. But at least I got to use that trick on someone who deserves a stupid death like this."

The impatient behaviour was briefly overwritten by surprise at finding Maarani there of all places, an incredible coincidence even by Intelligence standards. That impatience was very quick to resurface when he recovered, his hand tightening around the blaster harder.

"Don't even try it. No-one's going to care which of us shot first when you're dead anyway. If not today, then very, very soon."

"Rako, I'm touched. You're actually not a one hundred percent piece of shit from a bastardized concept of humanity like I thought. One down, ninety nine to go." Now that she no longer had to act scared, her demeanour was very cool indeed. The blaster was small in her hand certainly, but it remained very steadily aimed at Rako's neck.

"Tega, could you be so kind as to hand me that datapad, so that I might comply with the agent's request? I don't mean to interrupt your own feud with him."

Her gaze remained steady while she very slowly knelt down to retrieve that pad, and equally steady when she stood back up to hand it over to him without a glance. It was just a matter of time before Rako's impatience would render him too slow to outgun her.

"Fair warning, I've managed to take a shot right at the back of a Sith Lord's head. I may be a pilot, but it's your people that taught me to shoot to kill. There's some nice irony for you."

"Shut up! Shut up!"

For just a moment, Maarani's hand trembled. The flicker of hesitation in her mind. This was a man that had in no vague terms declared her to be on the verge of permanent ruination of she spoke a word of what had happened. Something that would see her condemned to the worst kinds of jobs on the worst planets. And that was at her lowest point. Now the opportunity had come to be done with him, and she was only just beginning to realize that he wasn't necessarily the ones calling the shots.

There was something very unnerving about the way he shouted, because it wasn't directed at her.

"I'll be doing you a huge favour Maarani! Consider it an apology! You can't fight what's coming for you!"

"I've tackled HK-50s, the Hidden Hand and the Sith. Well, sort of. One more group chasing me isn't a bother."

A drop of sweat fell from Rako's hand when he stepped towards Maarani, looking right down the gunsight at her. "You're a real dumb bitch for saying that. The HK-50s would be a godsend if they could actually kill Kiarna! The others are nothing compared to what's coming! And I intend to be there on the line in the sand against them, defending the Republic from all-"

His rant was cut appropriately short by a blaster shot that went right through his head.

Maarani lowered her blaster, and slowly looked over to the smoking rifle in Smirged's thick hands.

"You actually can fire a blaster?"

He shrugged with a bemused look. "I'm full of surprises, surely you have realized this by now?"

There seemed little to be said in response, so instead Maarani took that moment to walk over to Rako's body and ensure he was long dead. "Doubt there'd have been much use in finding out who else is after me, with so many on my back as is." After rifling through his pockets, finding a Republic Intelligence card, some credits and a few spikes, she retrieved his blaster for all of a few seconds before tossing it back on his body anyway.

"Not much of a signature weapon. Got nothing on boob blaster right here at least." She tapped the holdout blaster against her chest to further emphasise her point.

"I maintain a vault of black market weapons for cold storage, it can go to there. The incinerators are prone to illegal looting after all."

Smirged placed the blaster rifle back in its secret compartment next to his sitting spot before finally giving the all clear signal.

The doors opened to a flurry of concerned guards and servants alike. They saw the body of a man with a gun and a wound in his head, and a blaster in Maarani's hand. Where there used to be disdain for her now remained a hint of awe, and even understanding. As far as they now believed, she was an undercover bodyguard, and certainly not a threat to their establishment of things under Smirged himself.

When the initial worry passed over, and Rako's body was hauled away, Maarani sighed to herself and went to retrieve her cloak from the seat it had been resting on that whole time.

"Not meaning to be abrupt, but now he's gone I should be going as well. When I came here it was so I wouldn't have to run into all those people after me. Now, I just don't want them coming here, after you and the others."

Smirged nodded again at that. "Your concern is appreciated, Tega Maarani." When she put the cloak back on, he reached out the datapad he had been handed earlier to her. "I took the liberty of downloading the files to the storage on this device. Clearly Republic Intelligence believe there are still secrets that have yet to be fully realized. And if they do not provide insight, you at least have a copy of your own as insurance."

Maarani slowly took hold of the datapad, hardly able to believe she was actually smiling a little at Smirged's thoughtful act. "Seems we've both been of good use to each other, thanks."

"It is in conjunction with the actions of strong Twi'lek such as yourself that I can continue to push for a better future. My resources are at hand should you need them in future, Tega Maarani. You need only call upon myself for them."

"I'll keep that in mind. I need to see Nurrina first, then I'll be off."

"Of course."

The few items she had taken from Rako were tucked into whatever spots could hold them comfortably while she made her way back through the building to Nurrina's room. Oddly enough, she was sitting there in a rather calm position given how recent the alert was.

"I knew you'd be okay Tega. You always were real strong."

After two nights of curling up in her arms, Maarani knew immediately that something was off about her behaviour. And given what had happened with Rako, that concerned her.

"Nurri, are we about to have a moment we'll both regret?"

"What? No, I hope not…"

When she stood up, it was a clenched fist that she held on her way to the door, making sure it was closed before opening it up.

"I know you're ready to leave, since taking down that agent was what you were waiting around for. I decided to wait until now for the rest of my story, and a proposal I want to make. Not that kind of proposal either."

"I lied about being rescued by Mission. Her efforts are real though, which made them an easy cover story." She turned around at last, holding out the gold chain with the pendant of a printed fist. "They recruited me in return for being freed from the Zygerrians."

A pendant identical to the one Seradan had dangled in front of her face when she was in the interrogation chamber was the last thing she expected Nurrina to have in her possession. When the realization hit her, she stumbled back in a moment of panic. "Nurri, Nurri I don't want to hurt you-"

"You won't have to Tega." Nurrina tossed the pendant aside and strode across the distance formed between them to take Maarani in a warm embrace, without trying to force a kiss. "I knew about the situation with Zariba long before you got here. I want to help you settle things with Seradan, but you have to be ready to let her go."

While still cautious at first, the fact that Nurrina was being very deliberate about not trying to put her at a disadvantage spoke volumes. It was always possible she had been trained to lie well, but the feeling remained that she was still genuine as ever. And Maarani was willing to trust in her feelings over her deduction for the time being.

"He's out for my blood. They already tried to kill me once. I just can't be certain he won't try and kill me once I let Zariba go anyway."

"That's what I'm here for. Tega, I'll have to tell them that I've seen you before you leave, otherwise there's going to be trouble for me. I'll use that report to tell Seradan you're willing to negotiate, and once you're at that stage I'll try and talk him down. You just have to be gone within an hour after you leave this place, that's the most time I can give you."

Maarani nodded at that, relaxing more at last. "Fair enough. I understand why you waited until now then." Her arms finally moved up to return the embrace from within the cover of her cloak. "I really wouldn't want you being put in harm's way on my account. Thank you for being honest."

With a smile, Nurrina leaned in to plant that kiss at last, giving her a gentle squeeze. "I'll always love you Tega. This Azera Vass of yours is a lucky woman to have you for a soulmate. She just needs time to realize it. Just give her my regards, alright?"

"I will, promise."

They remained in the hold for a while longer, until Maarani finally sighed at last and pulled herself free. "That isn't the last time we hold each other, also a promise. Just please don't go over to the murdering side of the Hidden Hand."

"Seradan knows I'd never agree to that, don't worry. Anyway, you'd better get going."

With a small nod, Maarani grabbed up her things and made her way over to the door.

Nurrina was about to wave goodbye when she caught up on her own thoughts. "Oh, Tega. The Hidden Hand are only part of the Goto cult. Try and avoid anyone related to the Watchful Eye, Whispering Ear and Bleeding Heart. They go up the hierarchy in that order, that's all I know."

"They sure do love their adjectives. Good thing I haven't run into any of them yet then." She took that last moment to gaze back at Nurrina. Ketaris had given her so many new angles on her perspectives of everything, and even more had been opened up then. "I'll say hello to Kip for you when I return home. Eventually. I'm not sure when that's gonna happen."

"So long as you will. They miss you as well."

Maarani forced herself to leave at that before she got any more distracted by the lingering moment. Soon after, she was heading out the gates of the estate and reaching for her earpiece.

"I'm coming back to the ship. Rako's dead, Smirged took the shot after all. We need to be off Ketaris within an hour; I'll explain when I get there."

It was Jayden who answered shortly after. " _Alright, we should be ready by then. Dana and I will be waiting by that cantina to escort you the rest of the way. Just in case._ "

"Much appreciated. Watch your backs until I get there."

She was constantly checking her surroundings on the walk back, and for once without a hint of thought for the fact she was still half-naked without the cloak. With time to think, she had begun to wonder if the 'unknown' threat to her had something to do with the 'man in red' that The Watcher had mentioned, seeing as he didn't match the description of any of her other pursuers thus far. The 'woman in white' had given her the ugly impression that Kiarna was soon to arrive, and that was one reunion she didn't want to stick around for at all.

The sight of Dana and Jayden waiting outside the cantina as described was incredibly relieving to see.

"Izan back at the ship I assume?"

"They're making final calibrations now, he stayed to oversee with Cecile."

The two Jedi moved to either side of Maarani as they began the return walk, both keeping their awareness of their surroundings up high at all times.

Maarani wasted little time in catching them up. "Nurrina's with the Hidden Hand, but not the radicalized side. She's going to help me negotiate with Seradan once we're safely off Ketaris. We release Zariba once things are squared with him, and that's one threat gone altogether. I'm sure you're glad to hear that Jayden."

"I still think we could've released her sooner without consequence, but an actual negotiation does sound better."

"And I still think he would've gone ahead with straight up murder, but whatever. Anyway, Smirged believes that Yuthura went off to visit ancient Jedi ruins or some crap like that, because Jedi do that as well apparently. He doesn't have a clue where to begin though, so I guess that's what I'm figuring out next."

Dana nodded with a slight hum, only half focused on the conversation itself. "It'll be difficult to pick through them. With twenty thousand years of history to sift through, ranging from the first voyages from Tython down to what's left of Ossus. I doubt anyone would want to go there anytime soon though."

"Tython?"

"Original Jedi homeworld, name came up during some of my studies. It's long gone to wild space now, and I don't think the _Distant Star_ is built for tackling that. It'd take months of navigation just to find anything at all that far into the Deep Core."

"Well it is a deep space explorer. I'd have to ration up first, and probably drop Izan off, but if that's what it takes."

"Wrong kind of deep. You're the pilot, you should know that."

Before Maarani could come up with a retort, the trio were abruptly stopped by a young man stumbling out in front of them. For someone of his age, he looked rather unhealthy, and his clothes weren't in any kind of decent condition.

She was about to pin him down as another typical resident of Ketaris when she noticed the blindfold over both his eyes. It brought up a familiar feeling in her.

"Well I'll be damned…" She stepped forward to help steady the man while he tried to right himself. There were clear signs of malnourishment.

"What, what do you want Twi'lek? I've got nothing I swear."

That all but confirmed it for Maarani, who glanced back at Dana and Jayden and gave a bit of a shrug. "Can't a girl help someone in need? You're Miraluka, aren't you?"

He slowly turned his head to her, looking rather confused while he slowly took hold of her arm in turn. "You're not just saying that because of the blindfold, I can tell. He can tell, he speaks to me you see."

"I figured, you're what some call a 'corrupted', right? Not a nice name really, but that's doom-and-gloom people for you."

He nodded again, now looking surprised. "I'm waiting for help. She said she'd come, to take me to a better place where I can be with my friends again. We can't hide alone anymore, she says."

Maarani didn't need long to connect some of the dots in her mind. "Look, your friend isn't a nice person. You're clearly in bad shape being made to stay here." She reached into the strap on her hip and removed what credits she had taken from Rako to give to the Miraluka instead. "That should cover you for a trip back to Coruscant, and food along the way as well. Just tell them when you get there that Sereti Pala has been looking for you. She'll help you out."

After a few shaking breaths, he nodded and released her arm again. "Alright, thank you. You are a truly kind soul. He doesn't like kind souls, but I do. I thought I'd never meet one."

"These things happen. Take care of yourself, alright?"

She waited and watched a while as he began to move back into the alley he had come from, presumably to collect what little he had for the journey. To her relief, Dana had the decency to wait until they had moved on before finally speaking up.

"Teegs, sometimes I really do wonder what goes on in your head. You went from being ready to murder someone out of petty revenge to offering comfort and aid to a mentally ill man you literally bumped into on the street."

"Hey, I'm just doing what Jedi are supposed to do. Which includes dealing with bad people, and helping out the incapable. Besides, this is something Sereti asked me to do personally. And even better is that this'll stick it to Kiarna when she finds out I actually helped one of her friends that she left to die of starvation in this place."

"Because she didn't have enough reason to want you dead."

Maarani again shrugged the matter off. "We'll be gone before she arrives. And besides, she's got a confrontation with the 'man in red' to deal with when she does. I'm glad to have a chance to hold one over her for a change."

"She has a point Dana. The Sith are going to resume their attack at some point. Anything we do to destabilize them now has to be of benefit towards stalling them longer. Who knows what she intends to do with the other corrupted Miraluka if she really is gathering them all together."

Dana rolled her eyes at that, now very grateful for the sight of the building that currently housed the _Distant Star_ as it meant an easy break from the conversation. "Kiarna may be powerful and somewhat important, but she's still just one of many Sith sorcerers as far as we know. They certainly aren't waiting on her to plan their next move. Which means she has more freedom to deal with personal problems, like charitable Twi'lek women that mess with her mentally ill friends."

"Maybe she'll have a change of heart and decide not to be a super bitch when she sees him living a better life, all thanks to that 'wonderfully charitable Twi'lek woman'."

"I didn't say 'wonderful' once, thank you very much."

By the time they had gotten to the landing bay itself, it seemed that the maintenance team were indeed wrapping up their check log. Izan was visible up in the cockpit, while the various small turrets mounted around the _Distant Star's_ three hulls swivelled around in unified motions.

After a gesture of approval from Izan, and clearance from the ground team, they continued past into the ship itself. Izan himself was there to meet them not long after

"I think we're about ready to go. Might have to do some odd jobs for people in a few weeks to recoup, shouldn't be hard to pick out some names between what the four of us know."

Maarani gave a small nod in agreement. "Might happen sooner than you think. Yuthura might be exploring Jedi ruins, which means we'll probably run into archaeologists while we search for her. They always need protecting from something. Doing bigger jobs between spots would be a good supplement."

"I'm not sure that becoming hired mercenaries is such a good idea."

"Says the Mandalorian."

"Half Mandalorian, Dana. And even that half thinks we need to be wary of getting even more involved in sector issues than we have already. We're tangled in enough galactic issues as is."

Maarani broke the meeting with a signature shrug on her way to the cockpit. "This is why we should discuss it when we're off Ketaris. I settle things with Seradan, then we work out the next step. And somewhere in that I get back into actual clothes."

She was preparing for launch when they eventually followed her in. This time when Izan slid into the co-pilot's chair, he was noticeably more comfortable with the controls.

"I made it through the basic flight course by the way. I should be able to take off, land and move the ship now without crashing into anything. Don't think I'll be suicide skimming anytime soon though."

"That makes two of us. Just so long as I don't have to come up here every time we need to move to a new spot that's good enough. Hyperspace calculations and all that crap I'm fine with doing myself."

"Well I did learn the basics of that too. Might need practise at entering and exiting atmosphere, but there's gonna be plenty of opportunities for that now right?"

Maarani glanced over at him with a bit of a smile while she waited for take-off approval. "Fast learner for a two and a half day course. Though I guess they have to fast-track stuff here to get pilots going at all."

"Think of it this way; you get to skip over the boring basics when teaching me more."

At that, she smiled more, leaning back into her chair while taking her hands off the controls.  
"Alright, why don't you give this a go? I'll be ready to take over if something happens." She half twisted in the seat to look back at the two Jedi behind. "Any problem with that?"

They shared a small concerned look, but both eventually shook their heads.

"Good. The pre-flight checks are done, you're good to lift when we get the final approval through."

* * *

One of the few advantages of neutral worlds was that she was generally not recognized by the common folk. And those that did know what the White Terror looked like also knew it was best to keep quiet and stay out of the way when she was not on a murdering rampage.

She made use of that fact to move through the city quickly. It was ripe for a joyful spree of purging the inferior for the galaxy, but her concern was set on one friend, and that alone was worth ignoring such an opportunity.

Her composure changed when she saw Mozin wandering the streets, a small knapsack slung over his shoulder. He was headed in the direction of the public spaceport.

With just a hint of extra speed, she closed the distance between them to grab his shoulder. "Mozin! Where are you going? The _Vastes_ is back the other way."

It took him a few seconds to properly comprehend how she had apparently materialized behind him well before he became aware of her presence. "Kiarna? Don't you know? I need to go to Coruscant, I can get help there."

"Mozin, what are you talking about? The only 'help' you'll find there is guidance to a hospital bed so they can cut your brain open and destroy what makes you special! You know this!"

"But the nice lady told me that was best."

"What nice lady?"

Mozin slowly turned around, and pointed a painfully thin finger towards a ship that had just appeared over some of the buildings. "She's there. The nice Twi'lek."

"Twi'lek…"

Kiarna whipped around and took a few steps towards the Distant Star, pulling the left glove clean from her hand. "That dumb bitch isn't getting away. Just you wait!"

She jutted two fingers at the ship's engines, sending a thundering bolt of lighting right at it. The shot was true, striking right in an area not protected by the armor plating, causing the engine array to stall out altogether. The ship itself began to drift down on emergency boosters.

Kiarna whipped her head back to Mozin. "Stay here, I mean it! I'm going to deal with that bitch myself, don't let her lies get in your head!"

By then, people around her had fled in terror at the unexpected show of power on her part. Fear that was already starting to ramp up her power, and made the handprint on her mask glow ever so slightly. In mere minutes, Maarani would be dead by her hand.

* * *

"Ease up on the forward ascent thrusters. We're not looking for an escape trajectory here. Not like the one back at Telos anyway."

"I've still got a scar from where my head hit the bulkhead during that."

"Sorry."

The view over the surrounding buildings brought a sigh of relief from all of them. So far, nothing had gone wrong.

"I don't think I ever got to hear the whole story about your time on Telos. Sounds like you three had quite the adventurous escape."

Maarani waited until they were at a good height before motioning for Izan to begin the forward thrust. "Not much to tell. I pulled some dangerous stunts to escape the HK-50s, we survived. War stories are much better for that kind of-"

A sudden jolt of energy swept through the ship, frying out several screens. Maarain immediately took back the controls and began plotting out a descent course.

"If that was my fault I'm sorry!"

She was too panicked to quell Izan's worries. The only possible landing spot was in a seedy zone she had dismissed earlier as not being worth the risk. Without main engines, or any control beyond thrusters at that point, there just wasn't a way to turn around again.

Dana grasped both their seats in a moment of concern herself. "We've been attacked. That was Force lightning, I can feel it now. I just can't believe I didn't sense this coming."

"You're not the only one. Even I should've felt some kind of impending danger."

"Speculate later! Everyone strap yourselves in, this is going to be a rough landing! And Dana!"

She glanced back over her shoulder again just for an instant to be sure she was listening.

"If that came from Kiarna, I do not want to hear you say 'I told you so!'"

* * *

"Message from Ketaris incoming."

For once, Seradan was in the communications room personally, allowing him to give a gesture of approval immediately.

The holotable brought up Nurrina's image to his surprise, as her next report was not due so soon.

"I assume something has occurred amongst Smirged's business associates? We have heard rumours the Republic have been sending their agents out in numbers to retrieve those leaked files."

" _The one that came here is dead. Tegama'Arani killed him, and I'm speaking on her behalf._ "

Seradan's cold composure broke for a few moments. It had been a while since he had heard anything about the whereabouts of his daughter.

"Nurrina, I am only interested in getting my daughter back and ensuring justice is done for her kidnapping. Whatever she has to say-"

" _She's willing to negotiate, Seradan. She's terrified of you, of the Hidden Hand. You've both made a point to the other, and you'll get Zariba back much sooner if you just leave her alone. Forget revenge, surely your daughter's safety is more important._ "

"So you've spoken with her at length, enough to find all that out and despite already knowing the situation. I wonder why…"

All he needed was her glance away to conclude that for himself. "You're courting a dangerous woman, Nurrina. She can snap on the right kind of impulse."

" _I'm not courting her, Seradan. We are childhood friends, and I wholly believe she wants this mess to end as much as we all do._ "

"Sir! Ground agents reporting, _Distant Star_ attacked by Kiarna, forced to land. Seeking guidance on how to proceed."

Nurrina's expression turned to grave concern.

Seradan's was that of a widening grin. "It seems I won't have to negotiate for my daughter after all, at least not with the kidnapping bitch herself." He closed off the holotable and quickly made his way over to Aruga's station. "Mobilize all forces and contacts on Ketaris. Avoid confrontation with the White Terror, if she seeks Tegama's death as well she might just be convinced to let us extract Zariba first. If for whatever reason she does not actually approach the area, proceed with rescue. And remember, the Zeltron, the Jedi and the Mandalorian are not to be killed. This must be a precise execution to minimize backlash."

* * *

"Bad! Very bad!"

All four of Cecile's arms were reaching deep into the now open engine compartment. There was a scorch mark on the panel, and the hull above their heads where the bolt had arced right through the bulkhead into the dissipation armor. A lot of the circuitry was damaged, and while they had plenty of components that she was already working towards replacing, there was a growing concern from her own deduction that they were lacking in some crucial parts.

Maarani, Dana and Izan had gone outside by then to look at the external damage, while Jayden had gone to ensure that Zariba hadn't been caught by a stray arc.

"Holy shit, since when can Sith fire off this kind of attack?"

Maarani herself was running her hand over the impact zone, clearly marked by a circle in the metal where it had been momentarily turned molten, and then snap cooled by the sudden loss of energy to the dissipation armor. No living being could possibly withstand such a blast if directed at them.

"If this isn't Kiarna, then we've drawn Darth Lasidia's attention. And that is a whole other level of bad for us."

"I suppose I should be grateful that this isn't something my sister would do. We'd be dead already."

Faced with those cheery thoughts, Izan lightly slapped the side of his face in a depressed sigh."That might still happen if we can't get going soon. Whoever this was will be coming for us this very moment. Not that we're short on doom-and-gloom as you put it Maarani."

"There's no time to grab a new ship. Dana, get Jayden and guard however you can. Izan and I will try and help Cecile with repairs. We've still got time before the Hidden Hand might begin to show up."

"I'm not sure what good that'll do. I find it hard to argue with The Watcher's warning that Jayden and I can't fight Kiarna when she may very well have single handedly downed our ship."

Maarani looked to her in a long silent moment, then over to Izan. "Fine. If it comes down to it, I'll give myself up. Hopefully a big if. I'm still counting on us getting off Ketaris intact."

"Maarani, if you're trying to be brave-"

"Izan, let me have my heroic moment just this once! Okay?"

"Alright alright. Just getting a little corny there. And we should probably be on the ship helping Cecile by now."

"Yes, fair point. On both counts." Maarani lightly whapped his arm as all three of them returned into the ship itself. The next half hour at least was going to be one of their most tense experiences yet.

* * *

The alleys were cleared out well before she got to them. She had a strong idea of exactly where Maarani's ship had landed, and with the local law enforcement too terrified to stop her, she had free reign to make her way there however she pleased.

It also gave her ample opportunity to sense the approach of another. More worryingly, it seemed as if he was deliberately waiting for her in a particularly enclosed area. There were very few who would try to confront her without any word ahead.

She sighed in annoyance when she finally recognized his presence, and he recognized hers as well.

"Zimorr. What are you doing here?"

Zimorr adjusted his maroon coat before slowly striding over, that constant smile and false wide eyed glare directed at her. "I've come to help Azera. I know about this Maarani, what she's done to you."

Kiarna's hand moved for her lightsaber. "Don't call me that. It's Kiarna. And quite frankly I don't want your help in taking her down. We are long past done with each other."

To her surprise, Zimorr lifted his arms and stepped aside in an uncharacteristic display of concession. "Hey, if the mighty Sith Lord thinks she can handle a Twi'lek girl with a dark secret, who am I to argue." His smile grew wider as she moved past, giving him a view of the cute way she tied her hair back behind her head. "I mean, of course it's none of my business in the end, seeing as you're supposedly her intended mate."

He stifled down a chuckle at the way she froze up, her head twisting around to bring that mask back to bear against him.

"Where the hell did you hear that? Who are you working for now?"

"I'm only looking out for my own interests, Kiarna. And seeing as you are my primary interest, that means looking out for you."

Were she not wearing a mask, Kiarna would have spat at him in disgust. "Still a rotting pig. I made it clear that there will be nothing between us, and that stands right to this day, and well into the future. Now, leave while I still have patience left."

"Oh, sure, but first, Tulara."

Kiarna twitched for a moment, then began reaching for her lightsaber again. "Why did you just use my mother's name? Did you think remembering that would make me like you a little more? Are you that thick?"

A bad feeling was beginning to stir within her. She had felt it once before, after she had spoken with Jayden the first time.

Right before the Fallen had begun their attack in the hospital.

She took a step back and clasped her fingers around the weapon. "You're with them!? How the hell did they know to recruit you?"

"They know who you are, Azera. They've known a long time I believe. We don't want you harmed, you just have to forget yourself."

"Fuck you!"

In that moment where she would have drawn the lightsaber in a way intended to hurl it right at Zimorr, she instead realized her hand was not actually capable of holding onto the hilt. Her intent was there, but the impulse was not.

Her left hand whipped out, intending to blast a hole through Zimorr with lightning instead. That too failed.

"What did you do? What is this!?"

With his grin wide as ever, Zimorr hurled Kiarna into the nearby wall with a gesture. The trick planted by the Fallen was an undeniable success.

"I told you, I make powerful friends. And I've grown tired of you avoiding me, so I've finally decided to force the issue. Now, for the mask."

* * *

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh is not something anyone wants to hear from a droid."

Cecile's upper arms flailed about while the lower pair reached deep into the damaged engine section to haul out one of the components. "The bolt destroyed the ignition tube! I have not catalogued anything remotely compatible on board the ship!"

Maarani's hands went to her face in a moment of panic, interrupted by Cecile nearly catapulting herself across the room with how much force she had been applying to removing the charred remains of the original ignition tube.

"From the sound of it, we need that to take off."

"Yeah Izan, great deduction skills there."

Izan did his best to ignore Maarani's sarcasm on the basis that she was just in a panic. "Well, where do we get a new one? Name the sort of place and I'll go out there and get it."

"Any ship maintenance yard or parts shop should have it. But there are yet more parts that may need purchasing."

Maarani motioned for Izan to be on his way. "We'll alternate buying them as you go. It'll take a lot longer if you're standing around waiting for us to run back with stuff over naming off what you need as you go."

"I have doubts about that kind of logic, but I am only a droid so what do I know?"

"How to fix the ship is what you know. I handle the logistics of that."

"Well, it appears we also need a new rotational gyrocomplex motivatior."

"Rotational gyro… What?"

Cecile yanked herself out of the compartment again with another burned out piece of machinery. "Something like this. The ship will not be able to turn properly at all without it."

After getting a quick look at it, Maarani nodded and repeated it to herself. "Fine. I'll go get that myself. Keep working on that list for when Izan gets back!"

On her way out of the ship, she nodded to Dana and Jayden, both of which had taken up opposing entryways to keep an eye out on each other's approach.

"Izan should be back soon with parts. And no, I don't want either of you as escort, I'd much rather take my chances out there alone and come back to a stronger defence if I need to."

She was gone from the building itself before either of them could protest, still hugging that cloak around herself closely.

* * *

"Zimorr, don't try it."

Zimorr cackled to himself while he crouched down in front of Kiarna, having let her fall to her knees and slump further down the wall once her body had been conveniently rendered immobile with a small jolt to her neck.

"How could I resist getting to see your pretty face again? Obviously I never got to appreciate nearly as much as your Togruta master did. My sources did tell me a lot about how she used to stroke it with small, tender sighs, only when you were a young girl though."

"This isn't a demand, Zimorr. This is a fucking warning! Do not touch the mask!"

His grin devolved into something of a bemused smile. Only now was he realizing just how unsatisfying it was to have left her with no kind of ability to struggle beyond hurling empty threats. He had often dreamt about truly conquering her, proving he was the better master of the Force.

"I suppose it's sweet that you're considering my safety. But I'm not putting my lips on a surface of metal."

He brought his hand up to the mask, beginning to pull on it through the Force. There was a strong rumble between the surface and his fingertips, but it didn't budge. A second, and a third attempt didn't yield in the slightest.

"Impressive. It's pushing back an equal amount to however much force I apply to it through the Force. Oh, was that pun too painful for you dearest love?"

"I am not going to die in this alley! Not when I am this close to destroying Maarani! Do not touch the mask!"

"Looks like I'm doing this the mundane way."

His fingers touched down on the surface of the mask, lining up with the handprint itself rather comfortably. And to his further joy, the electromagnetic plates inside his palm were able to form a strong connection to the metal itself.

"Pucker up."

He tugged away. In that instant, his hand froze up, blood red ice beginning to grow from the mask right into his fingers. With a cry of pain he tore his shredded hand off the now brightly glowing surface, leaving a mess of blood over Kiarna's front.

"What the actual fuck!? This is your idea of a defence mechanism?"

"It's not my defence, Zimorr. The mask draws its power from the dark side. And now you can deal with the fucking consequences for trying to mess with the depths of the Force itself."

Her body arched forward as she cried out in pain. For a few seconds, the bloodied handprint on her mask shone a bright light up, before turning pitch black.

The shape of a hand began to emerge from it, bathed in shadows that poured out and swirled around Kiarna's motionless form.

They soon took a new form in front of her as they gathered in mass. Growing taller, a second hand forming, shoulders between them. A head above them. From the head, a deathly white mask, painted with two red lines, in the shape of a jawless skull.

An incomprehensible loud whisper came from the apparition of Darth Nihilus himself.

For having a literal manifestation from his worst nightmares caused by the tumor in his brain coming into being right in front of him, Zimorr was surprisingly amused.

"Summoned to stand there and look intimidating? This is what the appearance of Darth Nihilus has become? This is a joke Kiarna. I won't fall for your elaborate deceptions."

The apparition grasped at his throat. A cold began to spread into it immediately, though this time without the ice shredding his flesh. Again, it spoke in a form of language he couldn't make sense of.

Zimorr let out a mad laugh. "I don't believe it for a moment! You are a long dead spectre at best! Kiarna is mine, and she will be mine until we die side by side! Ghosts do not scare me!"

The apparition released his throat and stepped back, though it was not because of what he had said at all.

"I thought as much. Convince the lie that it is not real, and it holds no power! I am not afraid of the Lord of Hunger!"

"Good. What you should be afraid of is me."

He whipped around on the spot. Where there had been a solid wall was now the gateway to a desolate realm. And in that gateway stood the appearance of a Twi'lek woman. Somehow even without the ability to see colours of any type, he could perceive three markings on her face.

Black, grey and white.

His throat was grabbed by the woman. And this time it was physical, pulling him through the gateway into the realm beyond.

Kiarna was left alone, lying helpless at the feet of the one thing she truly feared.

"I won't join with you, demon. When I go to Katarr, I will destroy you myself."

The apparition said nothing more, merely vanishing into the ether of his own accord.

* * *

In all the panic that ensued from Kiarna's initial attack, Mozin had wandered back to his hovel inside one of the long abandoned buildings and stayed there, quietly whispering to himself while he waited for her return. He wanted to go to Coruscant like the nice Twi'lek had told him to, but he also didn't want to make Kiarna upset by doing so. And after all that Kiarna had done to keep him safe, how could he turn on her so quickly?

"Friend? Are you alright?"

He lifted his head up in surprise. Again, people had come upon him without him even noticing. They were vastly different from Kiarna or the Twi'lek however. Their presence was calm, and projected neither a feeling of warmth or of cold. Unlike just about anything he had experienced.

"I am well. Who are you people?"

"Me Koogora. Koogora help people, help the Missis. Missis good Lady, she buy droid from Koogora. Missis help you, Koogora and Following come."

"Following?" Mozin slowly rose to his feet at last. There were three beings in front of him, one of them noticeably shorter than the others.

"We seek to protect the One, and guide those she has touched to a better way of life. Our friend Koogora here was once trapped in the wastes of Coruscant's underbelly. Now, he helps to bring good health and wellbeing to those the One has smiled upon."

Mozin scratched his head, beginning to shake it. "I can't go with you. I'm waiting for Kiarna. He tells me she is coming soon. His voice is loud now."

The tallest of the three waved his hand in front of Mozin's face. In that moment, the whisperings of Darth Nihilus were purged from his mind.

"He will trouble you no longer, good friend. And you need not worry, we also seek to protect the chosen mate of the One. You will see her in due time. Your life is your own now, follow whatever path you wish."

* * *

Izan was barely through the entryway when the attack began. Quick action from Dana pushed him just out of the way of an incoming blaster shot that would have crippled his leg.

There was very little time to ready themselves, especially with Maarani still outside.

"Go! Get it to Cecile, then come help!"

The first attacker she had to deal with personally came through at that moment. He had a long pike in hand, made from lightsaber resistant material as she quickly discovered when attempting a quick blow to disarm him.

She could barely see Jayden punching a Rodian woman into a nearby wall with enough power to leave a dent in the old material before she had to parry the next blow rained on her.

How easy it would be to simply conjure a plume of fire and burn off her attacker's face. But that was a tactic from a time she never wished to revisit again.

The third blow came, which she used to deflect the forward momentum of her attacker off to the side, giving her ample opportunity to twist her lightsaber around and graze over his fingers. They fell to the ground in a steaming mess while he cried out in pain.

That success was short lived, as a stun blast from above struck her right in form. While resistant to the effects, it did leave her very disorientated as the energy tried to close down her active body functions.

A second blast came, which she managed to partially deflect with her blade, but the rest caught her leg enough to cause the nerves to freeze up and render it immobile. She fell back against one of the walls and brought her lightsaber up defensively.

To her relief, a flurry of blaster shots from the Distant Star's boarding ramp brought down the attacker above after bringing down his energy shield, Izan having dived to the dirt to make the shots as quickly as possible.

"Just like on Citadel Station. Shame you weren't there."

He rolled out of the way as stun blasts were fired at him as well. A second shot scored a Weequay armed with a vicious looking bowcaster in the shoulder, causing him to stumble out of sight for the moment.

With precious moments to spare, Dana reached up for her earpiece at last. "Teegs! Don't come back to the ship! You hear me? Stay away, get help from The Watcher! Don't try and rescue us!"

A desperate swipe across the path of a arms of another human rounding the corner made it a lot harder to hear Maarani in turn.

" _Is Kiarna there already?_ "

"No, it's a lot of people! It has to be the Hidden Hand, I don't know who else!"

Her hand fell away when she heard a yelp from Jayden right before she hit the ground. Yet another stun blast was fired at her, and in the moment of shock she was unable to deflect it.

By the time the others swarmed in, Izan was on his knees with two guns pointed at his head.

"Maarani isn't here! She's probably getting transport off Ketaris as we speak!"

He got a hard kick to the gut before a new face stepped forward, motioning for the others to back off.

"Others will take her down in due time, if you are in fact telling the truth. Quite frankly I don't believe that." After some further words to the others, the leader turned his attention back to Izan. "Working with a violent kidnapper is a dangerous business. We know not to threaten the wrong people, you will be returned to your mother's custody when this is over, and the same will be done for your Jedi and Mandalorian friends. Do all of them a favour by not resisting too much."

"Just take Zariba and go. Maarani was ready to let her go anyway, you don't have to kill her."

The leader gestured at small group that hurried over to the boarding ramp to do just that. "Our orders clearly stated she was to die. Consider making better friends in future."

While Izan was hauled up to his feet, the group that had gone inside returned down the ramp, with Zariba nearly bawling her eyes out at the fact she had finally been rescued.

"We will notify your father immediately. There is a transport that can have you returned to _Twa'janii Station_ within a day once you have recovered at the safehouse. Anything you need, you may ask of us."

For so long, Zariba had been afraid to even try using her powers with the Jedi witch sensing her every move. Seeing her being dragged off through the dirt alongside the Mandalorian reignited the anger that had been so thoroughly doused by her.

"Make that witch suffer when it's over. The dark skinned one." The rumble in her ears softened as her temper did as well. "Tegama can die quickly. I don't care anymore. Make the witch feel pain."

* * *

Zimorr was at a complete loss trying to comprehend what had just happened. There was no possible way for him to have gone from a Ketaris alley to the desolate wasteland he perceived around himself without a moment's unconsciousness. And yet that was exactly how it had happened. Even the chronometer in his cranial implant registered an instant change of surroundings.

More puzzling was the Twi'lek woman that seemed to be the only other being in the vicinity. Now he could more clearly see that the black mark on her face had a strong glow to it.

"How dare you touch Azera in that way."

Zimorr snickered at that. "Oh let me guess, I'm about to get a stern talking to for my behaviour? Like I said, I don't fear ghosts, and from what I've heard you might as well be one."

The black glow increased in intensity while the Twi'lek moved closer to him again.

"The similarities between myself and the Lord of Hunger begin and end with confinement to this realm. I have been protecting Azera and Tegama from the moment they were born. I will not let some sorry excuse for a wayward Miraluka disrespect them in the ways you do. Last warning; stay away from her."

At that, he folded his arms with a smug scoff. "I've yet to see actual signs of intelligence from the Force itself. This is just a delusion in my mind, cleverly crafted to appear real from beginning to end. You can't stop me."

The Lady of Balance raised her hand towards him. All three markings on her face began to glow.

"I will make your life a living nightmare. For the rest of your days, I will make sure you see those two enjoying a life together. Away from you. Beyond your ability to intervene. Maybe that will teach you some manners."

She curled her fingers in, and twisted her hand around abruptly.

Zimorr cried out in pain as every cybernetic implant in his body went into overload, heating up the flesh around every incision and delivering jolt after jolt into his spine.

"Warn the Fallen that they should not push my patience further! If harm comes to either of them, I will rain death on they and their families! All that they hold value in will be ruined!"

That was the last Zimorr saw of her before stumbling back into an entirely different alley on Ketaris. There were scorch marks from the overload, and the sensor report from his eye did indeed confirm that for the span of a few minutes, he had left the surface of Ketaris.

Once he had recovered enough, he immediately hauled himself back up.

"Fuck you. I'm not done with Azera."

Another surge of pain came in direct response to that. Accompanying it was what felt like a memory of seeing Azera and a Twi'lek woman identical to the one he had just encountered spending time together, in the embrace of each other. Doing things to each other.

Just as he had been warned.

"I will not accept this!"

The pain surged again, forcing every one of his senses deeper into the memory. Very deliberately tormenting him. There was no perverse joy to be found, it was an utter mockery of all he believed to be true about his fate.

After the third surge, he smashed his forehead against one of the walls, trying so desperately to make it stop.

When it finally receded, he began to stumble out of the alley, blood running down his face from the wound. He needed to return to the HK-50s, at least for a while, until he could devise a way to free himself of the torment forced on him by the Lady of Balance.

* * *

In that time, Kiarna had desperately tried to restore function to her body. Zimorr's specialized attack was far more potent than she would have otherwise expected of him.

She had barely managed to make her fingers move when she sensed the approach of another familiar being. This time, she was completely unsure of what to expect.

"If you came here to kill me, you couldn't have possibly picked a better time."

For a moment, there was silence, at least until Bellara found her and knelt down beside.

 _You have taught me much master, but there is still a lot to learn. I do not intend to usurp my way through the Sith ranks._

That made Kiarna laugh, her head still stuck in the position it had been left in just before Zimorr vanished away.

"It's not my blood, before you ask. I have no clue where Zimorr went, nor do I care. If you know of a way to undo this kind of paralysis…"

She grew a little cautious when the Umbaran reached to her neck near to where the paralyzing jolt had been delivered. A second jolt to a different spot restored function to her limbs at last, and brought with it a needling pain from her inactivity.

"I knew keeping you on was a good move. You can send my compliments along in your next report to Rak'Sakar."

Bellara glanced away, still silent as ever while she helped Kiarna back onto her feet.

"I've known for a while. Quite frankly I don't care if he thinks I need to be spied on. You've shown good potential, one day you'll make a worthwhile sorcerer. Perhaps even the Shadow Hand to the Red Empress when that day comes."

With the concern passed, Bellara nodded with a small smile.

 _I will make efforts towards that goal then master._

"Good. Not everyone can be at the very top, but some will try anyway. I will need people I can truly count on in order to ensure the stability of the Sith after all. This is a strong step in the right direction for you Bellara."

With drying blood stains down her vest and coat, Kiarna slowly began to walk at last, gradually overcoming the pain racking her body while Bellara moved by her side in silence. There was no good way to tell if the mental block had worn off yet, so she would have to avoid a physical conflict with Maarani for the time being.

Carudan flying the ship on the other hand would have no such issue in taking her, Jayden and any others with her down.

* * *

Maarani had only just obtained the gyro when the warning from Dana came through. And from there, she had just mere minutes to reach the alleyway leading to The Watcher's place before she noticed heavily armed people beginning to roam the streets. Her rush to get the gyro by undoing her cloak and making her breasts bounce for show felt far less sickening now that she knew it had saved her from certain death.

It also meant lugging a heavy piece of machinery through treacherous alleyways with only a thin layer of cloth between the beads dancing around her body and all those she passed. Worse, she also had no protection from the perpetually drugged air in the outer room, and was barely able to make her intent known to the Gamorrean before nearly fainting from inhalation.

The gyro she lugged into a corner almost immediately on arriving at The Watcher's room again. With her hands free, she took hold of the table to brace herself against the incoming coughing fit to clear her lungs out.

She did her best to get over it as soon as The Watcher herself came out from behind the curtain.

"My friends are in trouble. Dana said to come to you for help. Now I'd better not get some bullshit reason why you can't, because there is no way I'm fighting off the Hidden Hand's people that took down two Jedi alone."

The Watcher stifled back a sigh. "That isn't how I'd describe the reason, but there is definitely a reason. And telling you the whole reason would open you up to even more dangers than you already face."

"So still a bullshit reason then."

After raising her hands in defeat, The Watcher once again took her seat, and carefully removed her goggles. "You've heard of Darth Nihilus I assume? My former master while I was still Sith."

It took a while for Maarani to actually catch up to what had been revealed to her, at which point she took took a seat. "You're Visas? Hiding here this whole time?"

"Dana thought my pseudonym was blatantly obvious. Perhaps she was overstating it. But yes, I am _the_ Visas Marr from those stories. And seeing as I've sensed Nihilus' presence on this very planet, going in and saving your friends with the powers at my disposal would completely ruin six years of preparation to prevent his return when there is virtually no chance he would not take notice and prepare himself in turn against anything I throw at him. Does that qualify as a good enough reason to not directly help?"

Maarani tightened her lips, and gave a small nod. "Yeah, I guess planet eating Sith ghost is a lot worse than some nasty guys with guns. I can't leave without them though, and I just don't know how else I'm supposed to fight them at all. I'm still in a bead bikini for crying out loud!"

Visas smirked at that, leaning forward and clasping her fingers under her chin. "I guess this means I'm no longer a 'stupid fucking racist bitch', mm? That is how you put it."

After a sigh of her own, Maarani leaned forward a little as well. "I'm sorry for swearing at you, and calling you that. You were right about Smirged not being like the other Hutts." She sighed again while falling back against her chair. "I really do need help though. The Hidden Hand won't kill them, not Izan anyway, but I have no-one else to ask. There's not even a local security force that'll help out."

"There is one other option that might just be opened to you, with a little help. I can't do much without making my presence known as I stated, but a nudge in the right direction might be all that you need."

"Oh boy, what's involved this time?"

Visas leaned back at last, this time taking her goggles off altogether and running her fingers through her mess of hair. "I've kept track of you since the massacre. I know about your memory blackouts thanks to the powers of perception, and I am almost certain they are the result of contact with a being known as the Lady of Balance."

Maarani nodded ever so slightly. "This wouldn't happen to be the 'Lady' from that riddle, right?"

"Three markings on the face, black, grey and white. That should sound familiar."

"Right, Bastila told me she saw a vision with those markings involved as well. So, is it meant to be balance between dark and light or something? I guess if she's got it painted on her face it's gotta be an obvious meaning or else that's just stupid."

Visas nodded in turn, reaching an arm back to draw a nearby stone to her grasp. "That would be my assumption, yes. I have not been able to make direct contact with her, but I have sensed when she has spoken to others, such as yourself and Azera Vass. In fact, I believe she is speaking with the man in red at this very moment."

She held out the stone to Maarani, who immediately noticed a similarity to the one Bastila had used for their shared meditation.

"Another one of these, huh?"

"The mind stones have proven useful. They have formed in the remains of lightsabers destroyed on the battlefield from time to time, if you were curious about their origin and power." Once it had been passed to Maarani's hand, she rested her own back. "This one is more refined to specifically call on the Lady herself. It hasn't worked for me so far, perhaps she cannot make contact because of my unique attunement with the Force after Katarr. However, I believe for you the effect will be potent enough to contact her without memory loss. She will be able to assist you far more than I can at this time."

"Right, sure. Another ghost to deal with. Maybe my parents can appear and that's the trio of alignments complete."

Maarani clamped her hand around the stone. It had a different feeling to the one she had previously held. As if it were more naturally comfortable there in her hand.

"Anything is possible, Tegama. Your parents were good friends, and while devoted to the light they did have struggles of their own. And the very nature of the light side makes it difficult for the individual to shine through. But put that aside for now. Concentrate, and reach out into the Force as best you can."

With another small nod, Maarani closed her eyes and took a breath. "Wait, you said she was talking with the 'man in red' before. Do I have to wait in line to get that chat or what?"

While she didn't see it, Visas turned her head around just slightly, reaching out with her senses to the flow of the city. "It would seem she has concluded her business with him after all. Kiarna is also on the retreat, you will not have to face her yet."

"Great, reminding me that she's here is exactly what I needed to focus."

"Maybe it is, Tegama. Sooner or later you will have to stop her, and that means preparing yourself for the many battles ahead. Regardless of what Sereti told you. Now try focus again."

Maarani grumbled something to herself, but soon took another breath to do just that. Soon, the only thing in her mind was the image of the markings. Light, dark and grey. Parallel to each other, and yet still connected.

She nearly jumped out of her chair when a hand grasped her shoulder from behind. The irony was that when she opened her eyes, the chair itself had vanished, along with the room she had just been in, and Visas herself.

Back on the desolate world that she had seen in all those blocked memories. Face to face with a copy of herself bearing those markings, dressed in grey robes.

"I'm glad to see the Seer has guided you as I hoped. We do not have much time to talk."

For Visas, she had been watching Maarani intently, right up until the moment a rift in the space surrounding her formed and drew her away into a realm beyond. It felt identical to the one she had sensed in Kiarna's presence, thus she was only mildly surprised by the display.

"And another question is answered at last."

* * *

When Dana came to, she found herself in the middle of a dusty building that seemed to be welded walls built around a plot of dirt and left at that. Around the upper levels were signs of what had once been machinery, as well as some long gone droid husks. A long scuttled factory that had been picked clean by the local populace since.

"Boy, as if the Hidden Hand weren't run-of-the-mill enough, they've even got a run down place to hold people hostage in."

"Probably lots of places like this on Ketaris.

Izan was directly to her left, straining against the cuffs holding him to the support post of the roof above a few times before giving up. Jayden was to his left in nearly identical bindings that kept her upright.

With little choice, Dana gradually contorted her arms around to get a better look at the cuffs themselves, making use of her unique cartilage skeletal system. There was a great sigh of disappointment when she twisted them into view.

"Resin. Well, great. They weren't sloppy in that regard."

After craning her neck more, she could see Jayden was also in resin coated cuffs. There were several more binding her ankles and neck to the post, enough to fully isolate her from any use of the Force. She could feel the same pattern on her own body.

"So, I guess Zariba told them about Jayden, how else would they know?"

Izan did his best to shrug, almost a little disappointed that he was treated as far less of a threat based on how minimal his restraints were. "I could hear her ranting about you. Either she was calling you a witch, or a bitch I'm not sure."

Dana kept tight lipped about that. There was no possible way Zariba of all people could recognize what she really was. Not when the Jedi had been meticulous with erasing records outside those they controlled explicitly.

"Doesn't matter at this point. They've got our lightsabers, your weapons, and all the earpieces and communicators. I can't even try to contact Teegs telepathically with this on my head. The best we can do is hold tight against whatever they plan to do with us. And pray that The Watcher can do something to help."

"Right, pray for help. Very reassuring."

"Oh shut up. Better than doing literally nothing. And don't say that's the same thing or I will break your nose when we get out of this."

"Hey, I believed in the Force when Maarani jackknife turned a freaking explorer ship into the engines of a Hammerhead cruiser! She's the one with theist issues if anything!"

* * *

"Yeah, this is pretty much what I remember. Sort of." After Maarani was done looking around, she turned her attention back to the Lady of Balance. "Am I just going to forget all this? I assume I'm just slumped on the table in front of Visas right now."

The Lady smiled at that, her white marking taking on a faint glow. "Ketaris is one of many sites in the galaxy where the barriers between the material and the Force are thin. Felucia and Dathomir are light and dark thin places respectively. This is something of a more neutral region, rather fitting to the political climate of the material might I say."

"Uh, right… That's really convenient, and a little heavy on the explaining. Actually come to think of it you didn't really answer the question."

"You're thinking that's typical of 'wise' people right now then. That they disperse information by making people work things out for themselves." The glow from her white mark faded down again, her smile softening back as well. "I simply forgot that you are actually here in physical form, the time dilation of your perception is no longer in effect."

Maarani reached up to her head, as it was beginning to throb. "And now I'm completely lost again. Sort of. All I got was 'this dream place is actually real somehow'."

The Lady nodded in a slow, almost graceful way that looked too nice to be done by a version of herself.

"Oh great. Great, this isn't really what I had in mind for asking for your help in getting my friends back. I really don't make social calls, if that's what you think this is."

"I was hoping you would finally remember everything I have shown you, but since that isn't the case I'll get right to it."

The Lady gestured her hand, and within moments the environment around them began to change, taking them to other places on the same desolate world without any cohesive sense of movement. This time they were on top of a cliff, at the point of which a rift began to open on the Lady's prompting.

"You will arrive in your ship, Maarani. Blasters will not serve you much longer, it is time for you to truly begin your training as a Jedi. And that starts with finishing what was started when we first spoke."

Maarani looked at the rift with a note of suspicion, as it was inconveniently placed right at the cliff edge. And she was still probably stupid enough to step through it anyway.

"I walk through that, and I move across physical space? I know Masaka can move at incredible speeds, but… teleportation? How does the Force even do that?"

The Lady motioned her towards the rift again, her smile remaining.

"This realm is not the Force itself. It lies somewhere between. When it appears in the physical realm, most refer to it as warped space. It is a rather inaccurate term, in that it fails to truly encapsulate the magnitude of potential offered by the result of incredible energies interacting in catastrophic ways to create unpredictably destructive and yet wonderful results."

"Now my head really hurts! None of that makes sense!"

At that, the Lady rolled her eyes.

"This realm expands when the Force has been damaged by the actions of the material. Malachor V is the most recent example. Your sister has knowledge of passing through it using the rifts, as did the Rakata, and the Kwa before them."

She motioned again for Maarani to step into the rift at last.

Maarani was about to do just that when one lingering question occurred to her again. This was the one chance to ask it.

"Azera Vass. How do I find her? How do I save her?"

"It is not the time for that, Maarani. Both of you have your own trials to face in the coming weeks. Only then will you be united with her. Trust in the Force. Construct your lightsaber, save your friends, and do not give in to darkness!"

Those things Maarani could make sense of at least. With one small nod, she turned back and stepped through the rift at last.

* * *

Cecile had barely escaped being shot to pieces by the intruders on board the ship by wholeheartedly insisting she was only a harmless childcare droid turned mechanic that only wished to ensure the ship was repaired and ready to depart on return of the others, followed up by a solemn assurance she never wished to see her blue skinned mistress again.

All said while four blaster pistols were primed right inside the convenient compartments of her arms, and a combat protocol package stood ready to shoot every one of those intruders if it proved necessary.

She very nearly put them to use when the blue mistress herself materialized out of the very air beside her and caused her to scream in terror. The perplexing question of how she was capable of experiencing terror was what saved Maarani from becoming Twi'lek roast.

"Fucking hell it actually worked!"

Maarani grabbed onto Cecile's shoulders in a moment of joy, shaking the droid about while she wailed in agony about being molested by the Twi'lek as she had long expected.

"Cecile! I just went from several blocks away to here through a magic realm of bullshit physics! Isn't that amazing!?"

"Angry blue woman who is my owner, could you please restrain your urge to use me for those degrading acts that you are clearly about to engage in?"

"Sorry…" She released her hold at last, looking Cecile over for a few seconds before diving in again for a proper hug. "You can call me Mistress, or whatever you want, okay? I'm sorry I keep giving you shit when you're just trying to help. I'm still trying to get better, and I forget some droids have feelings too."

"I still do not know why that is the case with me. Especially when that Mirialan girl was pulling out my insides. Truly unnerving." Her eyes flickered when Maarani released her again. Only then did she notice exactly what she was wearing. "You still insist you are not like the Twi'lek I am supposedly racist for making assumptions about."

"It's a disguise, Cecile. But you know what? If anyone's offended by what you say, they can fuck off or get over it."

"Mistress Maarani, your continued use of vulgar language is quite disturbing. Mistress Dana was very insistent that I not use it."

After another small smile, Maarani gave a belated shrug. "I'll stop swearing when I become a Jedi, until then I'm uninhibited anyway."

"I see. Well, in any case, I am sure you would like to know that the ship is almost fully repaired. All I require is that rotational gyrocomplex motivatior you said you would get."

Maarani's whole face dropped at that moment.

"Oh, shit."

To the surprise of both, a smaller rift opened at their feet. From it rolled out the gyro in question.

"Huh. So it moves objects as well as people? Maybe there's a reason to not kill my sister after all. Think of the potential to be had if we extract this knowledge from her brain!"

"I am trying not to think of that, Mistress Maarani."

"Okay, fine. Fix the ship, I gotta build a lightsaber and come up with a plan to save the others. I'm sure I'll think of something."

She turned back into the corridor outside the engine room, and made it all of five steps before nearly running straight into a guard leaning in one of the hallways. Fortunately for her, she was a much faster draw, grabbing the holdout blaster wedged in against her hip and firing off five blasts in succession. For once, military training in identifying energy shields had just saved her life in ensuring he had no time to respond.

" _Was that shooting inside? What's going on?_ "

Again, Maarani was left in a feeling of horror at things taking a bad turn.

She bolted for the workshop as soon as she heard footsteps coming up the ramp. A few blaster shots hit the bulkhead on the trailing end of her cloak right before she clambered inside the cluttered room and shoved the door closed, quickly locking it.

"Right, build a lightsaber, don't get shot."

"In here! She's in the work room!"

Panic was starting to rise by the time she reached the table itself, her incomplete lightsaber having rolled up into the corner from the rough descent. More worryingly, the parts she had laid out beside it had been thrown off the surface altogether into the mess surrounding the table itself.

Those outside began to pound at the door. At any moment, they would resort to cutting it open.

"Shit! Shit!"

Her cloak was nearly ripped at the cords around her neck before she knelt down to begin scrambling through the mess of junk parts that had still gone unsorted, something she was regretting more than ever.

"Blast the door!"

The first thud of a blaster shot echoed into the room when she found the focusing lens and smacked on the table.

"Go away! I'm not worth it!"

A second blast, then a third. The energy cell was lobbed up to land with a painful smack of metal on metal.

One of the hinges began to groan. With a panicked hiss, she grabbed the tube that she had previously cut to size to make up the rest of the casing and finally stood back up. Everything was there, the original construct, her shoddy attempt at metalwork, and the 'special' parts from Dantooine that she hoped very desperately weren't about to turn out as duds on her.

The next blaster shot broke the upper hinge altogether, causing the door to groan more as they began pushing it inward.

"Last chance! Leave now or you get it!"

Her hands were shaking as she hurriedly shoved the pieces into place, fingers desperately trying to complete all the necessary wiring and circuitry.

The middle hinge blew off. At any moment, the door would crash down and she would be dead.

The lens slid into place above her red crystal. Lower cover clicking back up, the new upper cover slotting down over the top.

She whipped around with the lightsaber itself in both hands, finger on the button, praying so desperately that it would work in the moment she needed it to.

The door came down.

With the best battle cry she could muster, she squeezed down and charged forward with a sweeping attack.

Blaster shots went all around. Two humans and a Quarren fell to the ground in several pieces each, cut very haphazardly by the blazing red lightsaber in Maarani's hands that tore right through their energy shields.

When the moment of panic passed, she began to laugh hysterically.

"Hah… I'm a Jedi now. With a red fucking lightsaber. That kills people so easily. This is so wrong."

After retrieving her cloak yet again, she carefully stepped over the bodies of those she had just butchered to make her way back to the engine room. By then, Cecile had gotten well under way with finalizing repairs.

"There might be more that come to the ship. Do what you can to keep it clear, we're gonna need to make a very fast escape at this rate."

"I will keep that in my memory banks, Mistress Maarani!"

Maarani nodded at that. With a moment to think, she looked at the cloak again, then twisted it around to instead tie around her waist as an open cut skirt. While it left her chest and back exposed, that was no longer as significant as keeping the rest of her at least somewhat covered up.

"Did they take those portable shield generators? The shoulder strap ones?"

Cecile pulled her head back out of the compartment to make a shrug with her upper arms. "I do not believe so."

With a wide grin, Maarani dashed back to the weapon locker itself.

"Great, I think I know how I'm gonna get them all back." She threw open the locker, finding the shield generators all neatly lined up as she had expected. Surprisingly, both Dana's and Jayden's lightsabers were waiting there as well, as well as Izan's blasters and her own sidearm.

"Guess they didn't want them coming back for these after I got offed. Dumbasses."

She clipped the lightsabers to her respective hips after wrapping two generators around each arm, keeping her own lightsaber in hand while she made her way over to the ramp. Izan's blaster tucked in underneath the tie of her cloak-turned-skirt.

"Just follow the bodies as they come, they'll lead right to them. Not too hard."

With the back of her left hand, she slapped one of the generators on her right, shivering slightly at the hum of energy encompassing her body.

"Time to work on that battle cry."

* * *

"Jayden stop. You're going to cut your hands off if you do that for much longer."

Jayden gave one last yell before finally relenting, her wrists bruised from how much pressure she had put towards breaking the cuffs holding her back. Without the strength she could project with the Force, she was only really as strong as any other human Jedi woman could be of their own merit.

"I hate being useless like this."

"Yeah, I hate being useless too. And just because I hang out at bars and do nothing doesn't mean I'm useless while I do that."

"Yes very comforting Izan. Leave the consolation and reassurances to someone who actually knows what they're doing."

"Oh, I'm sorry that not everyone gets to be a Jedi and have free access to academic training on things such as how to win any argument automatically."

"Are you really still bothered by that? All I pointed out was that you had unfair expectations of a cousin you barely even know!"

In the midst of the argument between Dana and Izan, Jayden had turned her attention to the walkway above where the two guards were watching them, clearly just as bothered by the pettiness of it as she was.

"Oh for crying out loud would you both shut up?"

Dana muttered something under her breath, but eventually did just that after Izan made a fuss about being quiet.

In the moments of silence that followed, they all began to hear a distant sound. The guards also became aware of it.

A woman yelling, and as she drew closer, the sound of blaster shots and a lightsaber discharge.

"Oh no, what the hell is she doing…"

Right as the two guards moved to the nearby door to investigate, Maarani burst through and cut them down with a flurry of fierce strikes, sending sparks everywhere as she also cut through most of the railing in her attack. She slapped her shoulder again to deploy another shield charge before realizing there were no other guards in the immediate area.

"Uh, right. I finished my lightsaber? And I just wasted another charge, man these things run out quick."

"Great to hear. Mind cutting us free when you're done complaining?"

Maarani finally sheathed her lightsaber on her way to the nearest ladder, and did her best to climb down while keeping it in hand. "Izan, if you're closing your eyes now then you're missing out. Right now I really don't care what anyone sees of me anymore."

Dana glanced over to her left, sighing a little to see that Izan had indeed averted his eyes. "I don't understand you two sometimes, and that should say a lot."

Not long after, Maarani reactivated her lightsaber to carefully cut open the cuffs holding Dana to the support beam, handing her weapon over when she was ready. "They left them on the ship for whatever reason. I don't think they're the brightest and best that Seradan has to throw at us after all."

"They took down two Jedi. Maybe they got overconfident."

A volley of blaster shots from above interrupted their exchange. This time Dana was ready with her lightsaber, deflecting them away while Maarani worked to free Izan and Jayden in turn.

At the former, she leaned in closer to whisper to him over the sounds of battle. "Izan, take your blaster, get to the ship and fly it over here. Cecile should be done by now, and I'll be much better off here to keep them distracted."

He bolted for cover as soon as he was free, allowing Dana to move across and protect Jayden until she too was able to join the fray with her own lightsaber in hand.

For the first time, Maarani felt truly confident when she moved up beside them both, her own red blade raised high. "Come and take us you stupid idiots! I'll kill all of you!"

"Teegs, dial back the 'murder everyone' tone."

"I'll cripple all of you! Maybe Seradan can go bankrupt paying for medical fees!"

* * *

Izan had barely needed to fire his blaster at all on the way back to the _Distant Star_. As predicted by Maarani, the ground forces were rather more intent on seeing her dead than trying to apprehend him, and those few that did take notice were a lot easier to take down from more secure locations.

"Cecile! That engine had better be ready to go!"

In his hurry to the cockpit, he nearly collided with the droid herself, bustling past and launching himself into the seat with enough weight to make it shake violently.

"Where are the Mistresses?"

"We fly over to them, much safer than making them run across the city. We good to go?"

"The ship itself is fully functional, however, might I express concerns about your piloting skills?"

"This is how Maarani wanted it. Here we go."

After a very hasty take-off sequence, he brought the boarding ramp up temporarily, causing an alert to flash while the ship began to rise up. He had to clench his teeth down when the sound grew louder, the light more intrusive as they began to orientate towards the building itself.

"Here's hoping they know what to do, she forgot to hand back the other earpieces."

With the building in view ahead of them, he began to accelerate the Distant Star forward.

"How do you plan on landing the ship outside a spaceport?"

"I'm not going to land."

"Then how will they get in?"

Izan pushed the acceleration more. "They can jump. Hold on tight!"

He tried not to turn his head away, or even close his eyes as the outer walkways of the building came into view. Right before impact, he switched the engines to deceleration, adding extra stopping power to the ship as it smashed right through all the welded metal panels and beams with devastating force, as well as some Hidden Hand agents that matted the hull with their innards.

Outside, Maarani was on the verge of exploding in more expletives at the sight of her ship being flown right through so much heavy metal, stopped only by a very disapproving glare from Dana.

"Not the time Teegs!"

As soon as the ramp came back down, Jayden sheathed her lightsaber and physically grabbed Maarani by the waist to hurl her up onto the thin platform extending from it.

The impact had taken out the rest of the attackers, giving the two Jedi time enough to ready themselves for the physics defying jump up to the ramp itself.

Maarani had immediately stormed around to the cockpit and grabbed Izan by the shoulders of his jacket to pull him out of the pilot's seat.

"I don't even want to think about how many scratches you put on the hull!"

"Scratches? You nearly burned the hull off with that stunt on Telos for crying out loud!"

Dana and Jayden soon moved into the rear seats as they had often done, leaving Cecile to occupy the walkway out while she held on for dear life.

"This is the last time you get to smash my ship through a building! Now hold onto something while I get us back out!"

Several loud sounds of groaning, twisting and scraping metal rang through the ship as the _Distant Star_ forced itself to turn inside the confined space, bringing more of the building down before it finally flew free of the wreckage.

"Right, finally. Now we get out of here before Kiarna finally catches up."

"Or the Hidden Hand scramble fighters."

The proximity alert flared up right before a volley of heavy blaster shots struck the hull. In the fast spin around, all five of them caught sight of a much larger white ship bearing down on them.

Jayden was the only one to properly recognize it. "Hey, that's Azera's ship! What the hell is she doing here?"

"Probably has her husband flying Kiarna around. I guess this is what the Lady of Balance meant about not trying to tangle with either of them just yet."

Maarani pushed down on the acceleration again to create some distance between the _Distant Star_ and the _Vastes_ , only for a group of fighters to make their appearance on the scanner.

"Great, they were quick on that for once."

"Maarani, get Azera on the holocom. We can try talk her out of attacking."

"I'm trying to fly us out of a death trap here!"

Having been left completely lost as to who was who in the conversation, all Izan could do was switch on the holocom for Jayden and hope that anything they said would explain more.

"Azera, Azera it's Jayden. Get Kiarna to back off, Maarani and I would both very much appreciate that!"

At first, there was no visual response, only an audio one from Azera.

" _For what it's worth Jayden, I'm sorry it came to this. I have my orders._ "

While Maarani swerved to avoid a trio of fighters moving to cut them off from a hyperspace jump, the hologram finally flickered up with Kiarna's appearance.

" _Maarani! I know what you did to my friend! Everyone on that ship is dead when I get there!_ "

"Hey fuck you too Kiarna! I'm leaving you alive long enough to rub these in your face when I put you down like the schutta you are!"

Another volley of blaster shots struck the rear hulls of the Distant Star, the engine itself thankfully better protected by the ship's shields. It was enough of an impact to free Dana's hand from her face after having had to picture exactly what Maarani meant with her insult.

Izan had again tried not to think about it much, instead focusing on maintaining control of the blaster turrets in an effort to help clear a way out of the planet's atmosphere.

"I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."

"Izan, don't say it. Don't fucking say it. The next thing you know-"

At that moment, a Hammerhead cruiser descended from the upper atmosphere in front of them. It was heavily armed, and on a direct course for them.

Maarani and Dana recognized that as the HK-50's cruiser. The former immediately began to frantically slap Izan about with her right hand.

"You said it! You fucking said it and now this happens! You just had to go and challenge the universe to make things even worse for us!"

This time, Izan was alone in defending himself from the physical assault while barely getting out hurried apologies and simultaneously spraying blaster fire at the air around them on the off chance it managed to hit one of the Hidden Hand fighters.

* * *

"Bit of a risk doing both voices back to back like that, dear wife."

Kiarna was too frustrated to flip Carudan off for that, instead focusing her attention on establishing the tracer lock on the Distant Star itself. "At this point it doesn't matter. If they are in fact smart enough to figure it out, I'll be killing them all soon anyway. Just make the attack look convincing, I'm almost done."

He grinned in response, doing his best to keep the much larger ship at a good distance from their target. "Better hope Jayden didn't find out your mother's name. It'd be rather disappointing if you have the lightsaber to her neck only for that handy trick to come out again. Maybe if you had told me about your secret boyfriend beforehand-"

"Oh will you shut up! Zimorr is a psychopath, Maarani is not my soulmate, and we are in absolutely no kind of relationship! Enough!"

Further ahead, beyond the Distant Star itself emerged a Hammerhead cruiser. They too recognized it from the attack on Dalchon.

"Oh good, they've shown up to the party as well. Maybe they'll destroy the _Distant Star_ for us."

"I doubt that. But it's time for us to go anyway, tracker is set."

"Fine. I'm looking forward to the personal encounter anyway."

* * *

Between running dangerously low to the building height of the city, and dodging the long range shells of the HK-50 cruiser that was subsequently destroying the city itself, the sight of the Vastes backing off and eventually leaving sensor range altogether was too welcome an event to question with suspicion.

"Okay, anytime now spring a brilliant plan involving the Force on me Jayden. If you wanna climb up on the hull and punch that cruiser to pieces I think I can handle that."

"I really doubt I could muster that much concentrated Force energy to punch the cruiser itself without being completely swept off the ship thank you very much. Also how did that even occur to you as an idea?"

"I have stupid ideas!"

Maarani swerved the ship again to avoid another near miss with the fighters that were still very much flying around intact. After her brief assault on Izan for daring to make things worse, her arm was too sore to berate him for not actually hitting anything.

In the midst of it, Dana was still running through thoughts and plans of her own. "Alright, so same problem as Telos I assume? The HK-50s will project where we exit hyperspace, and even with improved shields we'll just end up with the exact same problem of how to escape them when the hyperdrive recharges."

"Can't suicide skim again if that's what you're thinking. The HKs will have prepared for that for one, and the other is that this really nauseating flying is the only thing keeping those fighters from tearing us to shreds. I think these guys are actually expert pilots and just happen to suck in ground situations. Or I killed all the non-pilots. I don't know how to deal with them either yet."

The next plasma shell struck the hull on a low angle, causing the ship to violently shake for a few seconds until she recovered from the impact and changed course again.

"Alright, how else do we get out of this? "

"Why are you asking me that? This is what I meant by Jayden coming up with some special plan involving the Force that magically gets us out of this increasingly bad situation."

"Maybe if Izan has another bad feeling we can get Darth Lasidia to show up and change the whole playfield."

"That is not helping!"

"Then I can have yet another bad feeling and summon Darth Malak back from the dead with a new Star Forge and fleet pouring out of it. Then Dana can have a bad feeling to turn 'Miko the Space Dragon' from that kid's story into a star-eating reality."

"I hate you all!"

"Mistress? Might I propose something?"

"You don't get to have a bad feeling too Cecile!"

Another hard impact on the ship got everyone to quiet down enough for the droid to make herself heard properly.

"Republic cruisers, they use a standardized scanning system, correct?"

Maarani swore to herself. "Yeah sure. The HKs would've upgraded theirs though to something high powered, hence the whole issue to begin with."

"Then perhaps it is in fact possible to create a blind spot from which to enter hyperspace if their sensors are not properly buffered."

The other four were silent for several seconds, leaving the ominous sound of continued weapon fire striking the hull to echo about, until Maarani broke out in laughter again.

"Cecile, clean yourself up, I'm gonna kiss you when we get out of this."

"Oh great Maker show me mercy!"

After banking the ship yet again, Maarani began putting the new plan into action. "Izan lock turrets to forward firing, maximum refraction. Jayden, reach around and adjust the shield intensity to fore and aft sections. The armor can handle the rest."

"I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"Trust me, it'll work. I've never done anything like this before so it's bound to turn out fine."

Once it was all set, she deepened the banking angle to bring the Distant Star around on a direct course to the Hammerhead, then locked in a direct path. As expected, the fighters began to form up an attack from behind now that they had a constant angle to fire on.

"Alright, hold on, this is going to get very hairy before you know it!"

Blaster fire was striking them from behind. Plasma blasts dispersed across the shielding directly in front. When the turrets blared into life, there was a haze of energy forming between them and the cruiser.

"Five hundred metres. Four hundred. Three hundred."

"Keep firing."

"Two fifty. Two hundred. One fifty. One hundred."

"Brace yourselves."

"Fifty metres to impact!"

At that moment, Maarani once again pushed the _Distant Star_ into pulling off a jackknife turn, the forward momentum carrying them within less than ten metres of the cruiser hull before flying off on a completely different vector, a haze of energized air obscuring the sensors as expected, and leaving every one of the Hidden Hand fighters to escape the barrage of autocannons now locking onto them from the cruiser itself.

As soon as the calculations were set, the _Distant Star_ shot off into hyperspace, with no sign of pursuit from either the HK-50s or the _Vastes_ waiting in orbit above.

* * *

It was hours before anyone felt like speaking to each other again. Not because they were upset, but rather that the whole ordeal had been thoroughly exhausting as a whole.

Izan had actually fallen asleep at the controls after they left hyperspace. Maarani had gone back to her quarters to actually try meditation despite her previous problems with doing so on spacecraft. After Jayden had made her nightly call to Qoso, currently stationed back on Mandalore itself for once, she had begun the necessary process of cleaning up what was formerly Zariba's room. Dana spent that entire time lying on her bunk in deep contemplation, questioning how a droid out of all of them had just come up with such a successful escape plan.

Cecile herself had decided to use the opportunity to make a post-combat examination of the ship as a whole, grateful above all else that she had in fact been spared the kiss she dreaded so much.

Occasionally, her pottering about the ship earned a bothered groan from whichever of the three female crew members she happened to be passing by at the time, while the most she got from Izan was a snore that offended her aural sensors more than Zaalbar's speech patterns.

Several more hours passed before the others all seemed to congregate in the common room of their own accord. Surprisingly, Dana was actually the last one there for a change, finding a bulkhead to lean against.

When no-one else spoke up, Maarani took the opportunity fully. "Well, normally I'd say we're damn lucky the HK-50s didn't deploy on the ground, and that for whatever reason Kiarna didn't come after us when you were all captured. But, having walked through an entirely different realm and spoken with a Force entity that seems to be looking out for me, I'd say this has gone well beyond luck, and beyond coincidences."

She looked to each of the four others in turn, none of which seemed to have much else to say at that point.

"I guess I'm saying that this isn't about my own stupid ideas anymore. We're getting pushed towards something a lot bigger. I don't know if the Lady of Balance is the one doing the pushing, if she's the 'something bigger', or she's just as much a small piece of this mess as we are." Still no word from the others. She used that pause to take a much needed breath. "I don't like the idea that everything is starting to revolve around me. If there's something big and heroic that has to be done, I'm just not sure the Force picked the right person. Revan didn't kidnap people on his turnaround, Surik didn't beat innocent civilians to death. And I'm sure there's a long line of much better people than I could ever possibly be that also got to do the big heroic crap and be the centre of attention."

At last, Dana felt confident enough to make herself heard. "Keeping in mind that both of them were responsible for millions of deaths among the Mandalorians and their own Republic soldiers before Revan even fell to the dark side to begin with. Teegs, if you think you're not actually worthy of doing heroic deeds because of what happened on Mirial, and with Zariba and Aiyek, I think you're missing the entire point of what making things right means."

Jayden followed soon after. "I wasn't sure of what to make of you when we first met. Now that I've had proper time to get to know you, see you in action and what choices you make, I'll be damned myself if you don't end up becoming the talk of legends. I don't mean for living through an encounter with the White Terror, or for whistleblowing about Mirial. You're not afraid of being who you are, and you're not afraid of doing the absurd to save others. I guess soon we're going to find out what takes you from a strong person to a strong legend."

The attention drifted over to Izan, who once again felt woefully inadequate. "Well, what am I supposed to say after that? Apart from this feeling a little repetitive?" His weak smile died as quickly as it formed. "If I get a footnote in history as a drunk who tagged along at some point, that's good enough for me. I don't know of many nobodies with no powers and no real ability who get involved with big galactic heroics and don't end up making babies along the way. Guess I get to be unique at last."

After they all looked at Cecile, who folded all four of her arms in silence, Maarani cracked a smile of her own and glanced down.

"Maybe we're all getting ahead of ourselves with writing our own statue plaques. There's no way I'm gonna convince Seradan to back off now that the only chip on the table is gone. Kiarna hates me even more, and since she probably knows about the conversation with Azera by now she's got one to hold over me. We still don't know what the HK-50s want with me, I don't know how to contact the Lady of Balance again without losing memory of it all anyway, and Visas is busy preparing for her own big fight. All in all, without actually knowing where to directly go from here, it's actually a rather grim road ahead."

"At least we now know you've got a guardian being watching out for you Teegs. That's something good, right?"

Maarani sighed at last, letting herself recline back into the seat. "I suppose I do. I suppose I really do."


	42. The Dragon Wakes

"Switch to hazard mode. Ease up on descent thrusters, but not too much. With that kind of rainfall ahead, we don't want to go from a slow fall into a sudden drop when we hit the low pressure zone."

Izan did all that had been instructed, feeling very grateful to have Maarani's expertise on hand to cover what the basic flight course hadn't. Most of the planet they had arrived at had cloud cover, and of course the one location that had a notable scan of a structure was beneath a stormy area. The first rainfall that hit the screen was soon vaporized by the heating coils that had been installed, leaving a faint veil of steam washing up over and underneath them while they descended through the cloud itself.

For once, the two Jedi had elected to remain in the common room for the descent, formulating their plan for the next few days while they waited out the renewed search for the _Distant Star_ by all the others out to get Maarani. If her plan had indeed worked, they were not in any immediate danger of being followed, and a world that was off most star charts thanks to Republic classification meant they had a degree of safety from random searches.

With the prospect of basic lightsaber training, or exploring the ruins that had led to the classification in the first place, Maarani opted for the latter to the surprise of all four others.

"Alright, keep your eyes sharp. Won't be easy finding a good landing spot, ideally we want somewhere just far enough from the tree line to avoid getting crushed by one. Too open and the wind and mud will make for a bad landing."

At that level, the rain crashing down on the ship seemed to be a bit much for the heating coils, which she eventually switched off altogether to at least get some view through the watery mess ahead rather than dealing with a constant mix of steam obscuring her view.

"Hold on, maybe a kilometre and a half out from the site, I think. High ground, just enough of a slope to allow runoff to the floodplains. Decent tree cover with a good clearing."

Maarani glanced over at the scanner readout, then nodded in approval. "Good spotting Izan. Ready the landing struts at fifty metres, keep an eye on the correction thrusters."

Large sticks and other bramble began to strike and bounce around the ship as they approached the landing site. A few loose stones struck the screen ahead, causing Izan to jump a few times despite them causing no actual damage. To his relief, the barrage slowed considerably once they were below the tree line, leaving only the heavy drizzle left.

After a few tense moments, during which the weight of the ship settled into the mud by a notable amount, they finally came to a complete stop on solid ground beneath.

Both sighed in relief that they hadn't just decided to land on a sinkhole, Izan running a hand through his fiery hair while Maarani adjusted her lekku.

"It'll wash off if it's still raining when we leave. I think we're okay for the night. Just extend the scanner range some, I'll rig in the alarm if it picks up anything."

They were done within minutes, Izan leaving first while Maarani did a silent test of the alarm before following after.

She passed through the common room to reach the cargo ramp instead, nodding to the others on her way. The ramp itself she lowered over halfway down, leaving a good flat surface to lie on above the muddy grass just a metre below.

Soon she was laid out on her back, with her head hanging over the edge just enough to let her lekku dangle down into the cool air flowing under the ship.

Not long after, Dana carefully descended the ramp, choosing to lie down on her stomach instead beside her, staring out as far as the misty evening air and rain would allow her.

"Doing okay Teegs?"

Maarani glanced over at her at last, a better view than the underside of the ship at least. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay. This gonna be a therapy session after I killed a load of people?"

With a short breath, Dana did her best to shrug in that position. "Only if you feel you need to talk it out. A lot has happened, beyond just cutting your way through Hidden Hand thugs. Doesn't even have to be anything psych related, we can just talk about whatever if you want."

A huff of her own preceded Maarani's sudden idle fascination with a slightly off colour panel above her head. What else was there that she could talk about with Dana comfortably? Koor she didn't know as well, but still had the sense of being someone that was good at being a confidant. Things with Izan and Jayden had both settled well enough, and since she was out of the depression cycle for the time being at least there was less need to let loose on what she was feeling.

Then again, maybe it was exactly the time to let loose. After all, this time she could actually bring out the feelings that weren't related to self-destruction or sex. Mostly.

"Am I insane? I mean, clearly I didn't just sleepwalk from Visas' hideout to the ship through Hidden Hand guards around the place. The Lady of Balance clearly does exist and she's all mixed up with me. But, insane doesn't necessarily have to be seeing delusions, right? Could it really be as simple as thinking a married Sith woman in league with the White Terror is actually destined to be with me instead? Just giving that utterly stupid concept any kind of actual consideration as being true?"

Dana had to take her time making sense of that. At least with what Visas had told her, there was at least an assurance that the former Grand Master of the Jedi had a semblance of cohesive thought. Maarani on the other hand was possibly making just as much sense as it sounded like on the surface. Which was bare minimal.

"People overuse the word 'insane' a lot for starters, rather like calling everyone with any kind of violent mental disorder a psychopath as a catch-all term. I don't think Masaka is truly insane for example, falling that far into the dark side to lose touch with reality takes a lot longer than eight years, disregarding whatever that holocron did to her. And that's a little irrelevant anyway. So, no, I don't think you're insane, however crazy things might sound to you at this time. The fact that you're asking that about yourself is a pretty good indicator you're not anyway."

"Now I feel like we've had this kind of conversation before, and you've said the same things. Maybe Izan was right, and I'm going around in a mental circle."

"Maybe. But sometimes, we just need little reminders of where we're going, and why we do what we do. Nothing wrong with that."

Maarani traced around the off-colour panel with her eyes for a little while before looking away altogether at last. "To be honest, I'm not sure of either of those things anyway. If Yuthura can't help, then all the plans following that go to shambles, and we ruined years of isolation for nothing. Haven't really thought of a good Plan B."

"Healthy dose of optimism, Teegs."

"Oh yeah, if being optimistic means setting myself up for disappointment and a lack of direction if things don't work out… Hang on I'm not the psychologist here, why am I the one with rational conclusions?"

At that, Dana gave a small smile, awkwardly adjusting her position so she could reach her arm flat across to hold Maarani's arm. "Because you're really starting to think for yourself again. Being fully aware of your emotional state is going to become crucial when your empathic powers really wake back up. This is good progress Teegs, don't get caught up in worrying about your future because of it."

"Well, nice as that is, that doesn't really help the problem. I can't go back to the military now, and if I'm still gonna be a problem to other padawans without real control of the presence then I can't stay with the Jedi either. I know Jayden won't stick around after that, she'd have no reason to. Izan might for the hell of it, but you'd have to go back to Coruscant as well."

"Teegs, I'm staying with you, whatever happens. Whether or not Yuthura can help you restore the connection, whatever the Lady of Balance might have planned for you. I won't walk away." She released her arm at last, bringing it back to rest under her chin. "Remember all those months ago, back when we were first headed down to the undercity? I promised that I'd help find you a girlfriend. You're going to need help turning a Sith from the dark side, and I intend to keep that promise, so I'll do what I can for Azera. The other obstacles we deal with in time."

Maarani kept her lips tight. The subject had reminded her of other concerns, mostly the fallout with Seradan and Zariba that would have to catch up with them at some point. But those she pushed aside for the sake of what she hoped would be a lighter subject.

"Dana, I get that you've been rather secretive about your past, and telling me more about why that is did explain a lot don't get me wrong. I guess, we just talk so much about me, we never talk about your aspirations and all that. Surely you've got other plans aside from coming with me across the galaxy for the next few years."

How easy it would be for Dana to finally come clean then, confess all that had happened, and admit that she now only had one purpose in mind that had already been made clear. Finally freeing herself from the burden of carrying so many painful secrets.

It still didn't feel like the right time to pass that burden onto Maarani.

"Teegs…" With a small sigh, she pushed herself up off the ramp to instead sit cross legged beside her, hoping to feel more comfortable in that posture. "I really don't have anywhere else to go, anyone else to be with. Whoever that past life was, none of it matters. What does is that I care about you, and that won't ever change. You're not holding me back from going elsewhere believe me."

After a sigh of her own, Maarani sat up into a cross-legged position, though kept Dana to her left when doing so.

"Pretty big commitment, I mean compared to just sticking with it until we find Yuthura. Any particular reason we should discuss?"

Dana smiled. "Not everything is based on romantic interests, Teegs. I'll be honest, your father did help me through those early years when I thought I had woken up an amnesiac, but that's not why I'm staying. You've earned my respect and my concern on your own. I guess if you want to call it 'honouring tradition' among my kind, then that works."

"Honouring tradition? What's that got to do with this?"

"It's the closest way of describing it for me; I'm not sure how exactly Twi'lek form bonds. But for my kind, wherever they are now, you've become like family to me."

At that, Maarani broke into a chuckle that soon descended into laughter. "Okay, so now we're sisters or something? Because I have such a good history with my actual sister, this can only go great. And chances are Carmen will never speak to me after what I did to her people, especially since we only got to talk for a few days at most! Sisterhood is very much out of the picture!"

Rather than showing the mild discomfort at how Maarani seemed to be dismissing the concept, Dana did her best to smile and let her point settle.

"Sisters isn't what it felt like to me, I was just trying to express just how unconditional that care is. We've had fights, yelled at each other, but even then I'd never for a moment do anything to put my needs over yours."

For how cheesy Dana's admittance had sounded, the true intent behind it finally made Maarani stop and think. Somehow, she couldn't ever recall a time when another had made that kind of assurance to her, and it touched her deeply all the more for that fact.

She slowly twisted herself around, bringing her face to face with Dana, then abruptly leaned over to embrace her at last.

"I'm sorry for laughing. It was just a really, really corny way of putting it." When she pulled back from the embrace, her hands slid down Dana's arms until they rested in her own. "The Jedi won't have a problem with this? I mean, obviously I wouldn't be around if things hadn't been relaxed, but this goes beyond any padawan-master bond."

"Teegs, forget about whether or not the Jedi Council approves. They wanted you to return to Coruscant when news about the Mirial files broke, I refused on your behalf because I knew they'd push you too far. I want you to feel happy, to feel safe and secure, and that's what I want this bond to mean. I'm always looking out for your best interests, not what's politically convenient or what others are expecting of you. Don't worry about what others think."

"Oh, that's easy enough. Being a gay blue Twi'lek woman, you really have to learn to shut out scathing opinions in the Republic. That's four kinds of 'ism' right there, plus xenophobia if it's a human with the opinion. So I guess I can do the same with the Jedi if it comes to that."

"And you were 'shutting out scathing opinions' by calling Visas a racist bitch?"

Maarani's face went blank at that. "I didn't know it was Visas at the time. And I did apologize to her before I took a trip with the Lady of Balance. I'm starting to wonder if she has an actual name that isn't just a generic title."

"Another question to be asked when you get past those memory blocks."

With a nod that might have been out of defeat, Maarani sighed again and untangled her legs so that she could stand up at last. While sore from sitting that way for what felt like an hour, she was at least grateful for the further time spent talking and learning yet more about Dana.

"I guess so. If I wake up in however many hours with a cold sweat, I suppose that'll mean she told me after all. We still okay for exploring that ruin tomorrow?"

"I don't see why not, if you don't mind trudging the mud. I can explain more about what I learned from research on the way."

* * *

The night had come and gone without interruption. No alarms, no close calls with lightning strikes, and no sign of an end to the rain. Even when the day came, lighting the place in a bleak grey from what little filtered through the clouds, a drizzle still persisted.

Trudging down the slope from the _Distant Star_ to the large dome that marked the site in question was nothing short of laborious. Part of survival training for Maarani involved camping out in conditions that were already worse, so she was hardly bothered by the excess of mud. Dana had the advantage of being able to use the Force to partially solidify the mud just before she stepped down, saving her from the worst of the sinkholes that she had to free Maarani from whenever her foot got stuck.

Where the ground began to level out, the mud became thinner, until giving way to a watery layer altogether that conveniently washed their boots clean, while also soaking them through more.

"Alright, now that I'm not in danger of drowning in mud…"

Dana glanced over while awkwardly removing a boot to attempt crossing the fresh marshland barefoot. It was still some distance to the entry halls of the structure itself, the dome looming beyond in its bleak white presence.

"Right, right. Well, the records talked about a brief archaeological and technological recovery expedition that was sent here nearly fifty years ago, before all the wars began breaking out. They found some sort of gravity-altering device, seemed to run on geothermal energy, nothing particularly noteworthy or useful there. At the time the galaxy didn't really know about the Rakata, but having had a chance to do a little cross-referencing, I don't think it actually was made by them."

"Oh good, yet another race of ancient builders to keep track of." After sighing, Maarani stopped to remove her boots as well, rolling up the ends of her pants to try and keep them from soaking more. "The Lady mentioned something about 'Kwa', as in they came before the Rakata. I don't recall ever hearing about them. All I apparently know is they could also use those portal things to move about."

"Kwa? Well, that's going really far back, we're talking pre-Republic. I've only read mentions of them, and their fall to the Infinite Empire, but I don't recall anything about being able to move about places instantly. If the Lady of Balance has been around long enough to know that though..."

"Very, very old then, I take it?"

"Twenty to thirty thousand years at the very least, and I only say that recent because of how little is known about the Kwa's fall. I don't know if there's any kind of record that describes anything beyond that time. She could very well hail from the origin of the Force itself. Whenever, wherever that was."

Maarani reached up to her head. "Wow, existential questions give me headaches apparently. Mind if we get back to the more relevant history lesson? A gravity-altering device sounds nifty."

They soon reached an elevated section of the land, thankfully much drier relative to the marsh they had crossed. The perfect slope and proximity to the building indicated it was a result of landscaping, but one that had somehow withstood the test of time very well. Both women kept their boots off however.

"Well, you have to remember Maarani, the Republic is not in a great state. Before the Beast Wars on Onderon, it had been over two hundred years since any kind of war had been waged, and it wasn't until Exar Kun that such a war affected the larger galaxy. Control over gravity sounds neat in itself, but it's not all that useful in the long term, especially since the records described it being limited to a large room and no further. And not to mention that geothermal energy is hardly anything remarkable given the far more powerful sources out there. Expeditions and deconstructive engineering cost money that the Republic simply wasn't willing to commit to a mundane outcome once war had flared up. It's the sad state of things."

The lengthy explanation rather fittingly took up the duration from the start of an overgrown stone path to the threshold of the entry hall leading to the dome. The path itself was cold from the constant water settling over it, but still very much a welcome reprieve from the squelching of soaked grass and mud.

"Four galactic wars in just a century, more on specific worlds. I guess looking at it like that it's amazing that the Republic has survived at all. Hell, I guess we should be grateful Darth Lasidia's greatest offensive was butchering my family and all those other Jedi."

Maarani glanced over at Dana when she practically sensed the impending rebuttal. "I'm not being sarcastic because I'm bitter. Much as I hate to admit this, I really am glad that it's been sporadic battles over these eight years. Getting to learn more about previous wars from Jayden kinda puts things into perspective."

"That doesn't mean this war is any less terrible than the others. Two between Jedi and Sith, one between the Republic and the Mandalorians, in pseudo-proxy for those parties. Many more may have died in each, but the longest was less than half of this one. Darth Lasidia and General Morgak aren't out for blood. They're out to wear the Republic, the Jedi, all our allies down. It's attrition, not extermination."

Under the cover of the threshold, Maarani finally stopped to sit down, cursing how thoroughly wet she was from the rain when her pants squelched, and eventually dropping her boots nearby.

"Why the sudden tangent? I've heard others speculate with similar conclusions, all I was saying was that we've got a better chance of surviving this one."

Dana didn't say anything more, merely tossing her boots aside and removing her robe to drape over a nearby arch in the architecture, her hair finally coming loose of her own brooch tie.

Both her silence and her sudden undressing confused Maarani. Until that moment, it seemed like she was quite driven to speak on, and it was hardly like her to be offended by anything said. And while her underwear was expectedly conservative, it did show enough scarred skin to confirm exactly what Visas had mentioned earlier back on Ketaris; that they were in fact self-inflicted.

She of course knew not to stare, at least after the uncomfortable experience of seeing Jayden with her hair down and having completely the wrong reaction teaching her to be mindful of herself. And yet, she was still able to notice that Dana seemed to be completely disinterested in speaking or even glancing at her more. Considering how close they had become just the night before, the sudden distance was only adding to the confusion.

After she felt herself beginning to not weigh so much through water absorption alone, she finally broke the silence to look up at Dana, her face now framed by streaks of matted hair that were finally allowed to drape around her shoulders.

"Did I offend you somehow?"

When they made eye contact at last, she immediately felt regret. There was no look of offence in her eyes, just plain confusion at the question.

"What? No, I was just distracted. As soon as we crossed into the threshold, I felt a strange presence. Something vaguely like a large concentration of that nullification resin. Blind and deaf to the Force. I was just trying to locate it."

"Oh good… That's really enlightening and puts me at ease." Maarani reached into one of the deep pockets to bring out her earpiece. Thankfully it had escaped the torrential rain. "Jayden, better keep watch outside the ship. Dana's sensing something that's null to the Force, something alive. I don't really know how that works but that's what I'm told."

" _Alright, I'll find a sheltered location to look from, keep the line open._ "

"Will do."

She stuffed it back into that pocket before finally pulling her jacket off. While it was water resistant, quite a lot had gotten in under her neck and soaked any part of the lining that wasn't also protected. With high humidity and a surprisingly cool temperature, it was highly unlikely anything would dry out in the open.

"Geothermal energy you said? Meaning it'd still be running, and it'd also be warm in there, right?"

Dana half nodded, physically pausing to think about it for all of a few seconds before silently grabbing her robes and pulling them back on.

"I did say I was distracted Teegs. Though I'm starting to wonder if we should just hike back and wait for things to settle."

"Well if we did that, we'd both get frustrated that we literally walked up to the door of ancient technology and decided not to even take a peek inside. I think Jayden, Izan and Cecile can handle things."

"Fine. Lead the way then professor."

Maarani retrieved her boots while getting back up. "I can't. If you haven't noticed…" She gestured at the presumed door itself, lacking any kind of physical handle. "Do your Force thingy on it."

With a frown, Dana stretched a hand out to the door and concentrated. After several moments of silence, she pushed it open with a sigh. "It wasn't locked."

"Lead the way then Jedi Master."

The room beyond was pristine white, every surface had a gloss to it that put their bedraggled state to utter shame. Despite however long it had existed, it was clear of dust and debris, even from what little the expedition had probably brought with them.

As they moved further in, the light changed for a few turning corridors, casting smaller patches of gold between dark areas, before returning to the bright light that had been present at the start.

"There's gotta be cleaning droids of some kind around here. Maybe they're zoned by light colour?"

"Or the lights are broken. Might be a bit much to assume whoever built this actually did expect it to last thirty thousand years. Also who would zone droids with different coloured lights instead of just programming them in?"

Maarani huffed. "Well sorry for actually trying my hand at speculation as well. Maybe you should be the professor."

"You're very far from becoming a Jedi Master. And besides, professors aren't always smart."

"Isn't that the whole point of calling them professors in the first place?"

Drawing closer to where the dome of the structure was expected to be, they both felt the temperature starting to rise at last. Enough to bring their chilled feet back from the dull pain that had overtaken them some time before.

They soon reached a cross corridor, a grand door situated just in front of them, with two smaller ones branching off to either side.

"Okay. Why do I feel like we should check the side doors first?"

Dana hummed at that. "Because I'm getting a bad feeling about what's on the other side-"

"Dana!" Maarani dashed over to clamp her hand over Dana's mouth, rather too late as it turned out. "For crying out loud, having bad feelings is banned ever since they brought out the HK-50 ship! I thought this was clear enough!"

After wresting the hand away, Dana drew her lightsaber and motioned for Maarani to do the same. "Have you ever stopped to consider that having the bad feeling means the bad thing has already happened? It's the effect, not the cause. And somehow I don't think instinct works on the rules of quantum mechanics or whatever science would apply so don't try and spin it around."

"I don't care! It just invites the universe to make things even worse because that's how irony goes! Or at least the irony that has been following me around for years now! And if we open those doors and find out that Kiarna of all people somehow followed-"

The doors began to open. Her hand whipped down to her blaster pistol and drew it out in time to fire a couple of potshots through. They all struck the personal shielding powered by Kiarna's mask.

"That's your fault Teegs, just for the record."

Kiarna tilted her head, activating her purple lightsaber.

Maarani quickly sheathed her pistol and drew her own blade, readying it for activation. "Tell me, Bitch Queen, how long have you been standing there waiting for us to wander up so you can make your big dramatic entrance and start monologuing about how you're going to hurt us? That's what Sith do, right?"

"Teegs, don't antagonize the Sith."

At that, Kiarna raised her right hand, pointing directly at Maarani. "Shut your mouth! I am here to get answers! If you wish to survive, Jedi, I suggest you turn around and go back to your ship, now!"

The red lightsaber came out at last, Maarani holding it parallel to the ground below chin level. "Not happening, we're together on this!" She glanced at the purple lightsaber again. "I feel like we've got each other's colours. What's the deal with that anyway?"

Kiarna dashed forward with a deadly swipe. Maarani was saved from dismemberment by Dana's concentrated effort in keeping the blade at bay, at which point Kiarna took a cautionary step back to create distance between them again.

"I don't recognize you, Jedi. And yet you're proficient in blade-to-blade combat. How is it we have not met?"

"Teegs, you need to run now, get Jayden on the line!"

At that moment, Dana broke the one rule that she had adhered to since being told the truth about her identity. All it took was a single flicker of flame out of sight, enough to confuse Kiarna as to how a Jedi was using the dark side so masterfully. And of course, Maarani would not sense it, even if she weren't already in the process of bolting for the corridor to their right.

By the time she was gone, Dana had twisted her lightsaber around to block a flurry of blows rained down on her by the White Terror. She let down her guise at that moment, causing the Miraluka to finally back away more in terror of her own.

"That's not possible! You were all wiped out!"

Her eyes a flaring lavender, Dana took a threatening step forward. Clearly, Kiarna knew enough to fear what being in the presence of a raging Vahla meant. And while she wasn't at that point yet, it would take a single blow against Maarani herself to bring the kind of darkness out that Sith and Jedi alike were never prepared for.

"I give you this warning. If you push Maarani too far, she will become too powerful for any being to control. You cannot stop that aspect of the dark side if she is unleashed."

In a blur, Kiarna dashed around to attempt a strike from behind, but again found her blow blocked by Dana. As it had been on Dalchon, her reflexes were dangerously slowed by the use of Masaka's dark speed. That method would require a unique opportunity to use.

"I know there is a Sith inside her! My master told me that it held power over me! I must destroy it! Get out of my way Vahla scum!"

Kiarna twisted the blade around the block in a move intending to sweep around and damage Dana's face in some way. Further confirming the realization was the sight of Dana bending her entire upper body back in a way that would be impossible for those with a bone skeleton. The same did not apply for one of cartilage through and through.

To create distance between them again, Dana used the curve of her body to launch into a backflip, her fingertips gracing the floor while she split her legs to either side to avoid Kiarna's blade, landing on her cool feet inside the doorway itself. Her lightsaber remained active in hand while she spun around to block yet again.

"If you pursue Maarani to torture her, I will call Vahl herself down to destroy the Empire, regardless of the effect it will have on the galaxy. You can't fight a goddess, and you can't fight the Sith that's waiting fifty metres away. Back down now."

The print on Kiarna's mask began to glow, her own gloved hand twisting its grip below the crennelation of steel petals encircling the lightsaber blade.

"Fine, I gave you a chance to run, but if you're that willing to defend her to that extreme then I will take you down. Piece by piece. I plan on killing the Lord of Hunger when the time comes, destroying another will be good practise."

Dana prepared herself for the onslaught she was about to endure. "So, Teegs was actually right, you were planning to monologue about how you'd kill us."

* * *

Lacking a sense of danger had plagued her from early childhood.

The incident in which she had fallen down a cliff and broken her leg on her homeworld while fleeing a raging zakkeg had resulted from her wandering off after Canderous Ordo had brushed off concerns that she needed supervision from one of the others in the training camp. Something she had later come to learn was a great regret of his, despite the fact that it had brought her sensitivity to the light.

She nearly lost an arm in another training exercise eight years later when she insisted Master Brianna allow the use of actual lightsabers between them. That had been the first real indicator of her failing, and practically ended any chance of being allowed to actively fight Sith and other dangerous opponents on a regular basis.

While some scoffed at the fact she chose spy work of all things instead, mostly because the lack of warning was assumed to be even more of a hindrance in that line of work over combat, it had in fact allowed her to go unremarked by many she had come into contact with. Many knew of a Mandalorian among the Jedi, but to think that the woman in question would actually shy from combat seemed utterly preposterous.

On Dalchon, her luck had almost turned completely sour stepping on a mine left by the HK-50's. Had she been in armor instead of robes, it was entirely possible the blast would have been contained inside the plates of her leg after penetrating her foot, spreading the damage up through the right side of her body. She had lost a leg, but in doing so kept her ability to function in any meaningful way.

And yet, despite a history of not having such crucial awareness, Jayden could still feel a great danger was falling over the crew as a whole. Seeing as it had come just minutes after Maarani warned of a null presence, she was very much on the alert.

"Maarani, what's happening? Dana? Either of you, answer!"

Nothing came through the comm link.

"Izan will bring the ship over if needed, I need some indication of what to expect!"

After another period of silence, the link finally crackled into life.

" _Jayden! Kiarna is here! She's trying to kill Dana!_ "

"Alright, just stay calm and don't try to intervene, you might just make it harder on Dana. Izan will fly us over and I'll come in to help."

" _Hurry please!_ "

Jayden slipped her helmet on while rising to her feet, bolting through the drizzle and mud of the clearing. The _Distant Star_ was opposite her the whole time.

"Izan! Izan ready the ship!"

She slowed a little when Izan descended the ramp, accompanied by another person. Just metres away she stopped altogether. An Umbaran woman had a red lightsaber to his throat, but more confusing was his complete indifference to that fact.

"Two livers that he clearly makes good use of. Interesting biology. But the colour is not to my taste."

Jayden knew enough about speech patterns to immediately realize something was wrong. It was Izan's voice, but it was not his mannerisms or particular dialect. Mind control of some form, presumably the woman holding his body hostage.

It wasn't until she looked at him properly that she really felt herself falter. "Bellara? How'd you end up working for Kiarna?"

Izan looked to his right, then back to Jayden with a bit of a smile. "You recognize each other, mm? Well, that is fascinating. It seems we all have some connection to each other here."

Bellara was still glaring right at Jayden, her face cold as ever, and currently forming rivulets of rain that rolled around her hairless head.

 _Bastila never came to rescue us. You never came to rescue us. I am one of the few left from Dantooine. Don't try to chew words with me._

"Bellara, I talked with Vaner, and with Bastila. She tried to stop Kiarna, and she nearly lost her hand for it. We all searched for you. The Empire had you all hidden away in secure locations by the time I broke into their network. I am truly sorry we didn't get there sooner"

"Much as this ramble of excuses is amusing to me, I really must insist that it stop." Izan stepped forward, not even looking to ensure that Bellara stepped with him to keep the lightsaber in its correct place. "I am here for Maarani. I believe she is an incredible threat to life in the galaxy. Of course, since my methods are not smiled upon by the Jedi, I simply couldn't ask for her to be turned over. That doesn't mean I am not above letting you and this Zeltron go."

"Not a chance, whoever you are."

It took that long to deduce why she was having such difficulty sensing whom had taken possession of Izan's body. The offender in question was somehow doing it without use of the Force. The null presence that she had been warned about presumably.

Izan himself took that moment to check his nails with a wicked grin. "I suppose names would make this body snatching business less confusing. Or more confusing if you think about it. Tell Maarani that Carudan has come for her. The Lady will know who I am, if she is indeed present. And she would be right to fear what I can do."

* * *

It had become clear rather quickly that breaking Kiarna's mask shield was beyond her capacity without fully giving herself over to the dark side, and until that became a last resort for Maarani's safety that was beyond what Dana was willing to do.

Another issue that became quickly apparent was just how brutal Kiarna was in her attacks. Her lightsaber strikes were fierce, intended to maim and cause physical damage rather than seeking out a direct kill. And the lightning strikes that she sometimes alternated into were disorientating enough without the electric blue flashes that the white corridors so perfectly reflected back into her eyes. Even then, it was taking an incredible amount of concentration just to block and dodge her attacks while slowly backing up through the hall they had come from.

" _Dana! I've found some control platform overlooking the gravity room! There's a big open walkway you might have a better chance on!_ "

Dana was too busy parrying another blow to answer Maarani. She hadn't a clue exactly how far it was to the threshold of the room, and even then being able to escape confined corridors would only do so much in tipping the scales back towards herself.

"I've killed so many Jedi. You won't accomplish anything by trying to slow me down!"

Again, Dana had to utilize her incredible flexibility and agility to avoid the next flurry of attacks, now starting to feel quite warm indeed from the exertion.

"You know, Sith really don't know when to shut up! You could just get on with breaking defences in silence so we don't have to even say a word to each other, but no!" With a cry of effort, she pushed Kiarna back several paces, turning for a quick sprint to the second doorway ahead. "Why don't you yell at Maarani instead? I'm sure she's about to start making fun of how these fights really go down!"

She burst through the doorway into a room that seemed truly immense. The dome was in fact a sphere, extending in all directions with a layer of mechanical coils dotted around the interior. Panels of some transparent material were laid out over each.

There was little time to take in the incredible sight before she was pulled right back into the fray, sparks and melting resin flying everywhere as Kiarna came charging in with wild swings of her lightsaber that gouged into the walkway through the empty sphere.

"Last chance to back off Kiarna! I mean it!"

Their blades locked again with such force that she was knocked to one knee. Were her skeleton not so flexible, it was possible she would have broken a bone or two from the sheer impact that came crashing down on her. Another hard push was all she could manage to buy herself the valuable seconds to recover.

"Teegs! Where are you?"

Kiarna charged forward again, readying an overhead swing.

" _Brace yourself Dana!_ "

Just a few steps away from landing the blow, both Kiarna and Dana suddenly flew off to Maarani's right, from her position on the platform above the doorway they had come from. She saw both lightsabers clatter out of reach and deactivate, leaving messy burns across the plating surface. As soon as they were down solid, she dialled up the gravity quotient.

"Teegs! This is not helping! I'm being squashed here!"

" _Give me a minute to work this stuff out okay!_ "

With her cheek pressed the floor, Dana had only a minimal view of Kiarna. But that was still enough to see her very slowly rising to her feet in an agonized way, pushing her body against the very forces holding them down.

"She's getting up! I-"

Before Kiarna could grab for her lightsaber, the gravity switched around again, sending both women toppling back to the walkway that was now vertical to their point of view. Dana passed underneath as the gravity shifted slightly. From the way Kiarna's head smashed into the walkway edge itself she assumed that was a deliberate attempt to incapacitate her.

By the time they touched back on the other surface, only to begin rolling violently around one of the leading edges, she could tell that the impact had not been so effective after all.

"Put me down! You won't stop her like this, and I'm about to throw up!"

She fell into the air yet again, having lost track of Kiarna by that point given just how badly her vision was spinning. When she finally landed on the walkway, her lightsaber clattering to her side, she was barely able to stand, and there was no way she would remain steady anytime soon.

Through the haze, she could barely make out where she guessed Maarani was. Still no sign of Kiarna.

"Teegs, where is she-"

A cry of pain rang out as the gloved hand wrapped around the back of her neck, delivering a powerful jolt of lightning right into her body. It kept up as she was brought to her knees, barely able to make out Maarani's voice over the crackling in her ears. Before hitting the ground, she smelt burnt flesh and hair, and promptly passed out.

"Dana!"

Her moment of panic had drawn Kiarna's attention right back to her. Before she could even make for the door back out, a piercing bolt shot past and fused the door itself to the wall around it, leaving a mark identical to that they had found on the _Distant Star_.

"All chances wasted Maarani! Now we finish what should have ended on Sarka!"

Kiarna gestured to her lightsaber on the walkway behind her, and in a sweeping motion sent it spinning right towards the platform Maarani was standing on.

She had just time enough to crash to the metal grate before the blade hummed over her head, spraying more sparks around her as it chopped through the support beams. She found herself starting to scream when the metal groaned and lurched forward, hanging onto the wall now only by a series of bolts.

When the lightsaber had been retrieved, Kiarna raised both her hands towards the platform, clenching them tight before yanking the whole mess down to the walkway with Maarani on top of it. Her louder scream was cut short by the impact.

* * *

"Carudan? Am I supposed to recognize the name?"

Izan nodded to Bellara, who lowered the lightsaber away from his neck, but kept it ready to dispatch him if Carudan ordered it.

"I don't believe we were formally introduced, no. But I did provide that temporary leg for you, courtesy of my dearest wife."

Jayden lowered her lightsaber down at last, face full of surprise from the most unbelievable of coincidences coming to pass. "You're Azera's husband?" There were so many questions that had suddenly been raised. How did a human-looking being that could utilize mind control without the Force end up married to a Sith woman that had gone from a low ranking position to working for the White Terror herself. Something he seemed to be doing along with her.

It raised one key question that she wanted an answer for above all else. "Where is she? Did Kiarna do something to her?"

"Oh, she's quite far away from here, and Kiarna won't harm her believe me. I can't say the same for Maarani, but I'm hardly sad about that. She is a threat to my loving marriage after all. Can you blame a husband for being concerned?"

With a sigh of defeat, Jayden's head began to lower, her gloved hand soon reaching up to it. "Look, I'm still uncomfortable about the idea of word from a Force entity intruding on what I assumed was a healthy relationship, even if it did involve a Sith and whatever you really are." She slowly grabbed her helmet and pulled it off, tucking it under her arm as most Mandalorians did so that she could look back into Izan's possessed eyes directly. "I also don't like the idea of Maarani being hurt to prevent that. She's been broken enough already."

She slowly stepped forward, clasping her lightsaber to her belt. "You might as well know that Dana warned me about pushing her too far. If I don't go and stop Kiarna now, the results might be far worse than a dead Twi'lek. I think preventing that is worth letting me talk her out of pursuing Azera surely."

Izan made a small gesture that brought the lightsaber back up again when she advanced. "Oh, believe me, I'm capable of handling whatever is waiting down there. Kiarna is only useful to me as someone who can safely open the box after all. The box being Maarani's frayed mind holding the Lady of Sorrows within."

Jayden again froze up. The significance of Carudan knowing about the Lady of Sorrows was not lost on her, as Dana had brought her more up to speed while Maarani was off with Smirged the Hutt. But more importantly, it kept her from revealing her reaction to Bellara's sudden look of suspicion. She didn't seem to be so enthusiastic about Kiarna being sacrificed like that.

"Look, Carudan, if Dana was right, nothing is going to stop her short of a droid army that's built solely to kill Sith. Whatever you think, you can't beat her in the open. It's-"

A brilliant flash of light from the direction of the structure caught the attention of all three. It was not the light of an explosion however. Even Carudan back in the safety of the _Vastes_ could feel it was far worse than the Lady of Sorrows coming into the open at last.

He hadn't considered the effects of four aspects of the dark side being present in one location.

* * *

It was a terrifying familiarity that kept Maarani from wailing about the pain her body was in. Laid out on her stomach, pain in her lekku, the White Terror just paces in front of her. Only this time she wasn't escaping the Miraluka's ever-present gaze.

Rather than being lifted from the twisted metal of the platform, she was instead dragged over it with no semblance of care by Kiarna's fierce gestures.

Somewhere between the wreckage and Kiarna boots, she came to a complete stop.

"Get up! Fight me you stupid Twi'lek! Show me why everyone seems to fear you!"

Maarani coughed up a mix of saliva and blood. Unfortunately this time, letting it drool down her chin to give a truly crazed look wasn't going to be any kind of use against the already crazed.

"Fuck you."

Kiarna twisted her hand, yanking Maarani's head up while she stepped out of the way. There was a clear view to Dana's smoking body.

"She's hanging onto life through the dark side! Fight me or I snap that thread altogether!"

While her teeth ground into each other, Maarani slowly reached for her lightsaber. There seemed little point in trying to shoot through that shield when she was probably suffering from internal bleeding and wouldn't last nearly long enough to wear it down.

"You're that eager for a bitchfight? I'd say argue with your reflection instead, but you wouldn't know what that is lacking eyes."

Two streams of lightning struck her in the chest, finally forcing her to wail in pain as they arced across her skin before finally dissipating into the air around her. Burn marks were left on the fingertips touching her lightsaber, the red crystal within beginning to glow from the dark energy it had just absorbed.

"I have not waited this long to have you lying on the ground crying like an infant! Stand up and fight!"

Ironically, Maarani couldn't feel any tears at all, perhaps from just how traumatized she was from the fall and subsequent impact. The taunting still didn't bring her to her feet.

"Kill me then. I've got nothing to lose. You're going to kill the only friends I have left, and I can't ever get my connection to the Force back without them. I'm done."

Yet again she felt the grip of the Force take her body, dragging her onto her feet and then across the walkway until she was within a metre of Kiarna. The glow of her mask cast her face in a faint hue of magenta.

"After I blinded your mother, before my master cut her head off, she said 'Twi'lek scum will destroy the Sith for good'. You're the definition of Twi'lek scum, and you won't even lift a finger to fight me yourself. Masaka is right to hate you. You're a disgrace to a family of wretched Jedi slaves."

Maarani spat out that mix of saliva and blood, watching it sizzle and burn away on the mask.

"I've gotten over the fact that you killed my family. Nice try bitch."

Kiarna tilted her head at that. There was one other option that she could try in that moment. It meant breaking down all her rules, but if the result was drawing out the Sith within, then it had to be worth it.

With a quick gesture, she set the voice modulator in her mask back to that which had become associated with Azera Vass. "That's no way to speak to your soulmate."

The pin dropped in the period of silence that followed. Or, as Maarani herself might have put it, the pin dropped onto the fragile bubble of sanity that kept her mind in one piece. However much she found herself criticizing the thought of higher beings than the Force itself, or even within the Force, there had at least remained a sliver of hope that she was not entirely lost to a cruel fate, that there was some actual purpose to it all.

The Lady of Balance had reinforced that sliver of hope. And now, because of her, it had been utterly shattered beyond any kind of reclamation.

A painfully obvious fact that she had allowed herself to be oblivious to for so long was now finally forced into the open.

Her once blue eyes began to bleed into a fierce red. Instead of bright gold flaring up in its wake, lavender began to encompass her irises. The shard of Vahl placed in her so long ago by her own father at Suroni's instruction had awoken. The Lady of Sorrows was now held back solely by the power of the Lady of Rage for however long it could last.

Rage was exactly what followed.

Her lightsaber came down on Kiarna's again and again. Each time, Kiarna leaned back a little, but held her ground. Just as she had expected, for all the influences driving Maarani to the point of insanity, she was just no match for her without the Force.

After several more blows, she finally thrust her hand out to push the Twi'lek back several paces.

"Dana clearly didn't stop to realize that the real Sith in you will be just as powerless. Pathetic."

As soon as Maarani charged in again, her hand went further up to grasp at her mind. Caught in the grip, the red lightsaber clattered to the ground and shut itself off. One more layer down, and the threat would finally be dealt with permanently.

"I don't know why I healed you that day, why I let you escape. But now I correct that clear mistake of mine."

The distance closed again. Her gloved fingertips were just centimetres from Maarani's violently vibrating face, trying so desperately to break herself out of the hold without success.

Blood began to seep from her nose, trickling down over her lips and then chin.

"Out of the shadows, Sith! No more hiding!"

Just before there was physical contact between the two, her hand fell away. The red-lavender in Maarani's eyes drained away immediately, returning back to their blue state. Kiarna hadn't even realized there was a change of colour in the first place, and thus she was not fully aware of just how clear the first warning sign was.

Maarani herself dropped to her knees, still staring forward while her body struggled against all the injuries she had sustained. But then, what was left of her after the period of rage was now gone. The Lady of Sorrows had her turn in the open.

"So angry, so wrathful. You are driven by madness to seek your own destruction. Is this what has become of my kind?"

Kiarna had taken a few steps back. Once the takeover had finished, she had quickly felt a very bad change in her own mental state. Something that shouldn't have been possible without a direct link to the Force itself as far as she knew. And that was the true problem with her plan as she quickly realized.

"So much death, destruction and decay. So many wars, so many pointless ends. So many rivers of tears to drown in." Maarani twisted her head up to Kiarna with a cold expression. "How are you not sad? Everyone hates you. Everyone around you hates themselves. Yet you persevere without a flicker of despair."

It was so utterly at odds with the depressive thoughts wracking Kiarna's brain that she could only believe it was deliberately meant to taunt her into breaking down her own defences, either ineffective against whatever the Lady of Sorrows could perpetuate, or barely holding her sanity together in the face of a power unlike anything she had fought before.

Her arrogance in defiance of her master's guidance had once again come to show her up for it. Only this time, she had no-one to look towards for help. It didn't stop her from trying.

"Master! Help me!"

To her surprise, and utter horror, a hand grasped her shoulder yet again. It was ethereal, and from the dark wisps beginning to swirl around her feet, she immediately knew who had come.

More terrifying was that his presence alone was indeed enough to drive off the Lady of Sorrows' attack on her mind.

 _The Sith that does not obey her master rarely gets second chances._

Of course, she didn't need to turn her head to see the apparition of Darth Nihilus properly. While he spoke in the tongue of the ancient Sith, the intent was clear in her mind. Something Lasidia had described about her own encounter with an ancient Rakata soul.

 _Denounce Darth Lasidia. Feast on the Lady of Sorrows, on the Twi'lek, and her Vahla friend. I grant you the power to do so._

It had been so easy to act defiant before, ironically when she had been left completely helpless in a backalley. And now, when she was feeling strong as ever, the prospect didn't seem so terrible anymore. The fact that his very presence had been extended around her was no longer a key problem in her mind.

 _Come to Katarr. Unite with me, and we will absorb the entirety of the dark side itself. Then, the galaxy._

She took a step forward. It was hard to tell what the Lady of Sorrows made of her last minute all as the only feeling from her was a cold emptiness that gradually grew stronger as she drew closer. Her hand stretched out yet again, icy at the tips, and yet flowing with a newfound power that she had long sought after in her own private meditations.

To be able to feed on life force without falling into the trap of uncontrollable need. To rule the Lord of Hunger, rather than let him overwhelm her mind and body as he had Darth Nihilus.

"Azera stop!"

Her attention moved upward to yet another apparition. It was not as familiar to her, as she had only really seen it once before on Ketaris. A figure identical to Maarani, but bearing three markings that seemed to exist in ways the Force itself could perceive.

The cold rush of Darth Nihilus passing around her made her tremble back a moment. His protection from the Lady of Sorrows was beginning to wane.

This time, his speech did not translate in her head. And from the screech of many long dead voices running beneath his ancient tongue, that was something she was grateful to be spared.

The Lady of Balance understood enough, hovering just behind Maarani's twitching form as she tried to stand, the Lady of Sorrows within finding herself caught in the middle of an unexpected battle.

"You will not return, I have guided many towards stopping you. Go back to the darkness."

Darth Nihilus spoke again, raising his hand as if to fire lighting at the Lady of Balance.

The whole room began to shake violently. When lightning did come, it was from all various directions, arcing through the gravity plates as the long defunct technology was empowered by the raw amount of dark energy passing through, and finally began to reach critical levels.

"Your time is done, Lord of Hunger. Azera and Tegama are under my protection. You will not take them. It is-"

A purple lightsaber tore through Darth Nihilus at that moment. His ethereal form began to dissipate, but with it came a rumble of voices within.

Kiarna barely had time to make sense of them before a flash of energy overwhelmed the structure, then subsequently transferred into the Force itself. An immense disturbance through the dark side that had finally been unleashed on the galaxy.

She could hear Maarani's voice through the ringing in her ears, presumably that of the Lady of Balance, before she finally passed out.

* * *

Darth Rak'Sakar was on the bridge of his own flagship overlooking the shipyards of Lianna when he felt the disturbance. It carried with it whispers from his long dead mate, taunting him of his failure to hunt down and consume the flesh of Mandalore the Steadfast for his atrocity.

His snarl and lash at the air drew concerned looks from the officers and few Sith also on the bridge. It was very rare indeed to see him become visibly angry, and whatever had disturbed him was clearly stronger than they were aware of.

* * *

On the other side of the planet, in her own ship, the Miraluka scryer of the Council of Sorcerers felt the disturbance, and traced it back to its source as best she could before the feeling faded altogether. Every one of her kind that had been alive at the time of Katarr knew what the presence of Darth Nihilus felt like, and while she sensed him in the disturbance, she also sensed the ancient being that had continued to elude her for some time. That was what she feared most.

* * *

Masaka and Properatus were wrapped in each other's arms when they both felt it. After a few moments of mutual contemplation, they both shrugged it off and returned to enjoying the company of the other. Others would deal with the problem posed after all.

* * *

In the curtained area of a well hidden room of a back alley on Ketaris, Visas lifted her head with a small smile.

"You've shown your hand at last. Then the time has come."

After placing her goggles back on, she made her way through to the communal area. Her arrival brought the attention of all her usual customers immediately.

"My former master has made his move. You all have your instructions on how to proceed, now is the time to enact them. You will not hear from me again."

* * *

On Dantooine, many Jedi felt the shift that came with the disturbance, all quickly looking to each other for guidance and support out of fear over what such a strong effect heralded.

Bastila was walking the fields with a herd of iriaz when it came, affecting her with such force that she fell to her knees in inexplicable anguish, and would have fainted amongst the sudden charge of the herd had Vaner not rushed to her aid.

"Mother! Stay focused, I'm here!"

She held onto his shoulder for several tense minutes while her breathing remained heavy. It was obvious who had caused the disturbance, but her sensitivity to it had come as a true shock.

"Vaner, contact Coruscant. Coordinate with them. We need to prepare for this, and not tread on their toes. Go, I'll be alright."

"Mother, I don't think this is the time for heroics. Though in saying that…" In one smooth motion, Vaner lifted her up and began hurrying back towards the complex grounds to where many of the others had begun to gather out of concern.

* * *

In the Luka Sene headquarters on Alpheridies, there was activity unparalleled since the destruction of Katarr itself. It had been the second wave of panic since, but the discovery of a corruptive defect in their children was still not nearly as terrifying as the return of the one who had brought unprecedented grief to their race.

Aibrehl had a difficult task ahead. Even given his age, responsibility fell to him to answer the threat itself now that it had made itself manifest. He made his way to a central platform from which he could clearly speak to the others. His voice was not strong enough for much more than a few quick directives.

"Prepare two flotillas and the _Maith_ _Súl_ for departure. Inform the governors that we are set to address the threat that will come from Katarr by their approval. Everyone else is to prepare for whatever dangers may arise. Dakkan must be reinforced as well."

The obvious question came from Marvina, the last apprentice he had ever trained in the Sene ways, and to that day his continued assistant.

"Should we not collaborate with the Jedi Council?"

"Sereti made her feelings on the matter clear when she turned her back on us. We will proceed as we see fit, the Jedi will simply have to accept our involvement."

* * *

Down in the Archives, Atris was among the first on Coruscant to feel the disturbance. The indicator on her chest went off immediately as she stumbled into one of the study desks, clutching at her chest while the lingering decay of the dark side was suddenly flared right back up in her body.

"Master Atris, what happened?"

She was joined by a few young initiates who helped her sit more comfortably in the nearest chair. Despite her supposed reputation as being a fearsome presence, she was more grateful than ever to have their support at that moment. That didn't stop her from also putting their safety above even her own.

"Something terrible I'm afraid. Please, return to your dorms until things have settled."

The children all looked to each other, then back to Atris. "But who's gonna look after you Master Atris?"

Hardly in a position to argue, especially with a child that had her concerns at heart, she did her best to smile after sighing in mock defeat. "Alright. You can stay until Dr Xilubu gets here. But please, do not dally with returning to your dorms when that times comes."

* * *

Dr Xilubu was in the hospital ward at that same moment, as he so often was, but he was one of the few to not be directly affected by the disturbance.

His patient on the other hand had what he felt was one of the most extreme reactions yet.

Barely seconds after it came, Sokoli Zatu's eyes shot open almost as abruptly as she sat up, taking a deep rasping breath as she finally regained consciousness, months after first arriving at the temple.

"Azera!"

Xilubu had to apply a soothing technique to her mind before she finally laid back down, her eyes frozen wide in a panic.

"Take it easy, you've been through a real rough phase. I'll explain more once you've had time to recover."

The significance of Azera's name was entirely lost on him after all, as was the timing of her awakening.

* * *

Sereti had spent the past few days in one of the smaller atriums in the gardens to make the most of being amongst rich plant life before her departure for Ilum.

It was thus ironic that one of the most tranquil locations in the entire Temple was where the strongest effect was felt.

She was on her feet in seconds, lightsaber drawn from her side and directed right at the figure of darkness that had appeared. While it had yet to take a defined form, she knew exactly what it was intended to be.

"Why appear to me? Do you think I won't return from Ilum to stop you?"

The shade remained for a few seconds, then vanished without word or sound. The point itself was clear enough, a challenge to come face him on Katarr.

* * *

On a planet virtually opposite the source of the disturbance, close to Ryloth and Dalchon, a man in a cave woke from his deep meditation involuntarily. The last time that had happened was just over eight years previous.

"Too soon. Too soon..."

He waved his hand over a small communicator, bringing up the image of a HK-50.

"Next installment has been forwarded. The threat has just increased significantly. I suggest you find a way to track her down properly before she grows too strong."

* * *

Dark clouds gathered in the skies above Katarr. They concentrated and swirled over what had once been the gleaming city Tarraburst, capital of the Miraluka colony, home to nearly two hundred thousand Miraluka, and where twelve hundred Jedi had been when the Devouring had struck.

Over one of the many plateaus in the layered city, amidst long crumbled ruins lay the epicenter of the dark clouds. From them struck a bolt of lightning unlike any other, seemingly white for an instant, but in the milliseconds after it struck, bathed entirely in black energy.

From the impact rose a swirling mist of darkness. Unlike all the other times however, the darkness had physical form. The form of a man, long dead, little more than a husk for the entity known as the Lord of Hunger. A husk was all that would be needed to pass into a new host, one that would no longer bind Hunger to the impossible conditions of a Wound.

When Darth Nihilus looked to the sky for the first time in over thirty years, it was to whisper only a few words to the depths of space. A challenge to all who would dare to face the Devouring Empress as they would soon be known as.

* * *

Kiarna was lost in an almost total void. It felt as if she were falling forwards, only there was no air rushing over her skin, no sensation of any ground or object to break her fall with, if that was even what was happening.

She could perceive her own being, nothing more.

For a few moments, there was the worrying thought that it was her perception of the last moments of life before death for Sith. Spiralling into the endless void of ambiguity, lost to the Force forever.

"Wake up Azera."

The experience of waking from whatever dream realm she had found herself in to the real one was truly uncanny. Both seemed vivid, and both were surreal.

It took her a while to notice she was lying face down in a puddle, rain striking her back and soaking into her hair. The air flow from her mask caused small ripples in the water until she finally managed to push herself back onto her feet.

She found herself gazing upon the strange sight of Maarani on the ground, unconscious, while her exact look-alike tended to her gently. The Lady of Balance had remained in spite of whatever had just obliterated the structure they had been in. There was no sign of the Vahla as far as she bothered to search.

"I'm sorry you both had to go through that. I didn't expect the Lord of Hunger to attack while I sought to neutralize the Lady of Sorrows."

Kiarna reached up to her head, wincing a little at the gash where her skull had impacted the walkway during the gravity shift. The wound had reopened, and was now stinging from the rain dropping onto it. At the very least, it served as a needed indicator that she was awake.

Many other things still felt odd. Her anger, her desire to see Maarani ended was gone. There was no drive to kill left, only emptiness, and a bit of confusion at all that had transpired.

"How long do I have to ask questions? I feel as if I've just been-"

"Drained of will?" The Lady stood up and slowly made her way over to Kiarna. The rain that fell passed through her form seamlessly, another spectral projection. "In short, Darth Nihilus used you to draw out the Lady of Sorrows, and consumed both her and the Lady of Pain within you. He has broken through to the physical realm on Katarr, and sooner or later he will take hold of your mind and force you to meld with him into the Devouring Empress. I'm afraid my ability to protect you has come to an end."

The gash on her head suddenly felt like the least of her pains in that region. "So I still have time to stop this?" She sighed, and after some time to think made the conscious decision to switch her modulator back to Kiarna's voice. "If you know me as well as I'd assume, you know I am nowhere near as strong without the ability to draw from fear and pain. I can't stop him if he is already able to consume."

The Lady nodded with a solemn look, the white marking on her face taking up a glow. "You will have two allies in that fight Azera. One of the Jedi, and one who has walked the line between the light and the dark. You must work with them, I can only watch and provide minimal guidance on Katarr, his power is strong enough to keep me from interfering. And then, when it is over, you will have a choice about which way your destiny lies."

For the first time, Kiarna felt truly lost about what to make of her future. Ever since becoming apprentice to Darth Lasidia, it had been set out and made clear. But with her still out of contact, her greatest power with the dark side stripped away, and a mysterious deity guiding her actions for the near future…

"So I actually do get a choice then? I can choose to go back to the Sith, and try to reclaim what has just been stripped from me? I can choose to strike Maarani down when I am done with Darth Nihilus?"

The Lady's glowing marking switched to the grey down the middle of her face, her expression turning a little more stern. "I think you will find that the latter is no longer something you desire. The two of you are bonded in mind. Eventually, you will be bonded in body and soul as well. And keep in mind, now that you no longer take joy and power from pain, you will feel grief yourself. Cause her too much of that, and it will double down on you in turn."

Kiarna looked over at the unconscious Twi'lek again, bringing a hand up to her hip. "You say that after what I put her through."

"She is about to face her personal trials, as you will eventually. You cannot help her until the threat has been dealt with, I only elaborate now so that you understand what awaits you after you succeed."

"Does that mean I'm definitely going to stop Darth Nihilus then?"

At that, the glowing mark shifted to the black at last. "There is no future for you, or for the galaxy in general if you become the Devouring Empress. Does that settle the stakes well enough?"

Kiarna nodded, reaching up to her head yet again. "I suppose." She took one last look at Maarani, then very cautiously moved past. "And what if I die there outright? Will you stop me if I try and take my own life to end this threat?"

"He will just go back to the shadows and find someone else to meld with. You have to destroy him through your own power."

"Fine." About to leave it at that, she stopped yet again. One question posed had slipped her mind until then. "A man called Carudan has been searching for Maarani. What do I tell him?"

The Lady's expression grew quite dark, just as her form began to fade. "Get him off your ship as soon as possible. Dump him in deep space, but do not try to fight him. He is far more powerful than he has led you to believe."

And with that, she was gone altogether.

Left in the rain, Kiarna couldn't help taking yet another look at Maarani, who was finally starting to wake. How simple it would be to drive the lightsaber through her neck at that moment and go to Katarr without any further concern on her mind.

Instead, when she knelt down by her side, removing her glove and placing a hand on her back, it was with wholesome intent she had never truly felt before.

"Maybe this is what happened on Sarka after all. You're a pitiable woman, Maarani. And quite frankly, I don't see any worth in leaving you alive."

Her pale skin and red nails stood out in strong contrast against the soaked leather of Maarani's jacket until she pulled her hand away at last, having healed all of the damage done by the fall and her own attacks.

"I hope you work out what it is you want from life now that you get to continue on. I don't know anymore myself."

By the time Maarani regained full consciousness, Kiarna was long gone from the area, leaving her in the middle of a waste zone with no sign of Dana. And for once, that was fortunate.

* * *

Jayden had been spared mud getting all through her hair by bolting for the cover of a tree when the flash came before passing out. When she woke back up at last, she noticed that Izan had been far less fortunate. Bellara was nowhere in sight.

After recovering her helmet, she cautiously trudged over to his side. He had landed on his back thankfully, face first and he might have drowned in the mud before she woke. There was enough of a rise from his chest to confirm that he was still quite capable and alive.

"Izan, get up. Hurry."

His startled awakening brought him thumping hard into Jayden's hand, nearly knocking him back into the muddy grass in shock.

"I've done things involuntarily in the past, but that-"

"Don't beat yourself up over it. I've never even heard of that level of mind control, and I haven't the faintest clue how it would work without the Force or some truly advanced technology. We're out of our depth on that one."

She hauled him back up, wincing slightly at the state he was in. Murky brown against bright pink really made the whole mess look that much worse.

"Just clean yourself up, check on Cecile when you get the chance, and don't come back out until I give the all clear. Right now I need to go find Maarani and Dana, and there's no telling if Bellara, Carudan or Kiarna will try another attack or not."

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good. Watch your back alright?"

While Izan was left to trudge across the clearing and back into the Distant Star, leaving several prints of mud on the way until he took his boots off at the top, Jayden drew her lightsaber in readiness for the long hike down to where the white dome had once stood. Despite training to expect the worst in a crisis, the worst was something she tried not to think about given the implications of why the structure was gone.

She didn't get far at all before catching sight of bright blue amongst the bleak greens and

browns that lined most of the land ahead.

Still no sign of Dana with her, in any form.

When she drew closer, her deep expression of anger became clear. "Maarani? What happened? Where's-"

Rather than trying to punch her, as Jayden was far larger and absolutely far stronger, Maarani went right for drawing her blaster.

"Shut it you stupid bitch. Answer me this; what species is Azera Vass, and what colour is her lightsaber?"

Jayden instinctively went on the defensive as soon as the weapon came out, but her controlled reaction was one of shock at Maarani's sudden turn. The sudden interest in learning more about Azera certainly wasn't making things sound any better.

"She's Miraluka, her lightsaber was purple-"

Maarani nearly pulled the trigger at that, her face scrunching up slightly as a few tears came. When that moment of anguish passed, she strengthened her grip on the weapon and did her best to glare Jayden down.

"Kiarna is Miraluka. Her lightsaber is purple. And if you had fucking told me everything you knew about Azera in the first place I wouldn't have gone mad and let out the Sith trapped in my fucking brain when she told me she's is Azera Vass!"

The shock at the turnaround suddenly paled incredibly in contrast. "That's, not possible. The Azera I met was nothing like what I've heard Kiarna described as. It has to be a coincidence."

"She has a modulator in her mask! She used that exact voice! And you didn't even wonder for a moment if it was more than a coincidence?"

Jayden thought back to that time. Contacting Sereti, putting her word in that she highly doubted that Azera Vass was the White Terror. There had been a mild thought that it was more than just a coincidence, but the two had just seemed so completely distinct in her mind.

"Maybe a moment. Maybe she was lying about rescuing children from the HK-50's, maybe she was lying about being critical about the ways of the Sith. She saved my life when I was down a leg, feeling incredibly vulnerable, and had no-one to lean on. How could I have possibly known that same woman went about murdering thousands of people for eight years previous?"

As much as Maarani didn't want to admit it, she had little to argue with there, and it embittered her more to the point of forcing the other subject.

"And what about that Sith in my head? The one she yanked out, the one that took control of my body? That made me feel so completely helpless because I was just cut off from everything again! Did you know it was in there?"

Then came the true test. Any lie would quickly break down an already bad situation. The truth would shatter her confidence further. And trying to intervene would either see one of them injured or Maarani's being breaking down altogether.

She had to be quick on laying it all out. "Yes. Dana told me, she was terrified of saying anything in case we lost you to the Lady of Sorrows. She loves you too much to have not sought out a way to destroy her safely. Her words to me."

The tears came again, Maarani's hand starting to shake.

"I'm not one to judge if she's getting too obsessive for even a relaxed Jedi standard to tolerate. She cares for you deeply, and she would have told you when it was safe to do so. I'm just abiding by her judgement, and the promise I made to ensure your safety as well."

Her hopes faltered when the blaster firmed back up yet again.

"You're holding back. What else did she tell you? Why is she obsessed with me? Why do I feel like Kiarna wasn't lying when she said Dana was using the dark side to stay alive? Tell me!"

"That's between the two of you Maarani. Now, put down the blaster before one of us gets taken over by Carudan, or stabbed in the back by Kiarna."

She had no intent of making it an actual attempt at influencing Maarani's mind.

In her still maddened state, Maarani herself thought otherwise. Perhaps a roll of thunder in the distance had mistakenly been translated as the rumble of blood around her ears whenever a mind trick was in use. Or the beating of her own heart had become so erratic that the same effect had been achieved through coincidence alone.

The warning was there, and under other circumstances, she wouldn't have acted so rashly on it as to actually pull the trigger then and there.

A whiplike trail of pure white fire absorbed the blaster shot before it got near to Jayden, who had begun to raise her arms in defense.

Dana marched up to a careful distance from the pair, her right hand still bathed in white flame. Her eyes were still the bright lavender that they had been since revealing herself to Kiarna.

"Teegs, I am so sorry. I tried to protect you, and I failed."

Maarani took a few steps back, now switching her blaster between Dana and Jayden despite the apparent futility of that threat. It gave her the illusion of having any level of control over the situation.

"Tell me the truth Dana!"

With a cautionary glance to Jayden, Dana took one single step forward. "I'm the last of a dead race that worshipped a deity of the dark side. The woman that was my past life gave instructions to your father that she hoped would destroy the Jedi from within. Instead, that led to you being born, and eventually infused with my blood." Her lip was trembling a little when she noticed the flicker of lavender in Maarani's own eyes. "Teegs, I wasn't being platonic with calling you family. I just didn't know how else to put it in a way you would understand."

"Yeah, yeah because this is exactly how I wanted to find out." The blaster dropped down at last, but only to be swapped out for the lightsaber. "Fuck you. Fuck both of you. I'm done with Jedi holding shit back from me. You're still doing it now."

Dana blinked, and in that moment her eyes went back to brown. "Teegs, I have only ever had your best interests at heart. If I had to give my life to free you from the Lady of Sorrows I would. I can't help that some truths are just too painful to unload at you all at once. I could never do that to my…"

Maarani stepped back again, keeping her lightsaber up in a threatening way. "Daughter? I'm not your daughter, in any sense. My mother died believing in me, believing I would destroy the Sith. I had to find that out from the one who murdered her, who also happens to be my soulmate. Figure out the level of mindfuckery that can do to a person while you wait for rescue."

With that, she bolted off to the _Distant Star_ , and within the span of a minute had launched off and set an escape trajectory from the planet, marooning Dana and Jayden.

The latter had made to try and stop her, only to be stopped by the former.

"She needs time to process everything that happened. When she comes to terms with it, she'll come back. The important thing is that Zariba and Izan won't be around to suffer whatever she goes through."

Jayden slowly turned her head to Dana, once again caught with shock.

"I told Izan to stay on the ship."

True to the nickname that she so often despised from Izan himself, Dana merely sighed and followed the _Distant Star_ with her eyes until it launched into hyperspace.

"Then may whatever gods the Zeltrons worship protect him. It's out of our hands now. And we need to prepare for what might be a long wait for rescue."

With so many emotions running rife at that moment, the cold dismissal seemed particularly unfair. But, as Jayden soon concluded herself, worrying about Izan when they were stranded with no shelter and no supplies was exactly what not to do. The survival training she had learned all those years ago from Canderous himself kicked in, and she followed Dana into the treeline to begin the search for a place to recuperate safely in the storm.

* * *

The warning was constant in Kiarna's mind when she reached the _Vastes_. Carudan had read deep into her mind before, so there seemed little point in trying to hide it. And now that she had confronted Maarani, and learned a great many truths about her, it seemed that there was little reason for him to continue working with her anyway.

It was thus no small relief when she found Bellara in the ship itself, quite alive and untouched.

"Where's Carudan?"

 _I do not know, Master. He had the Zeltron under control, then a flash from your location broke his concentration. He was gone by the time I returned here._

Kiarna hummed with a great deal of suspicion, but with little to go on, and the fact that she couldn't spot his presence alone through the Force, she forced herself to move on from the warning in mind.

"I'll deal with him later then. First, we must meet with an Imperial vessel to return you to the fleet. I have to travel to Katarr to stop Darth Nihilus, and I must go there alone." On the way up to the cockpit, she stopped again to turn her head to Bellara, reaching a hand out to her shoulder. "It's rather likely I won't return, for one reason or another. Don't hold your breath on my account."

Bellara said nothing, though did have a look of concern the rest of the way up.

When Kiarna sat down, it was in the pilot's chair at last. Something she had almost never done before, and something she knew had immediately raised questions from Bellara. "I am capable of flying the ship. I just prefer to let those with eyes do it. You'd be surprised at how skilled some Miraluka pilots are however."

Not long after the _Distant Star_ had flown off into deep space, the _Vastes_ soon rose from the storm clouds and set on its own course in the direction of Katarr. Neither one of the female occupants were aware of Carudan's continued presence onboard.

* * *

"I wish I had more advice on how else to prepare, Brianna. I truly do."

Brianna gave a customarily sombre nod, waiting on the other side of the divider from Sereti while she changed into her battle-ready attire.

"What you have told me will suffice. We will be as ready as we can possibly be if you cannot stop him at Katarr."

Silence grew as Sereti stopped for a while, clenching her fingers over the flats of her eye sockets.

"I need her here. She knew him well, she would know exactly what to do, how to prepare. I don't think I have any hope of stopping him."

Hard as it was to accept that her longtime friend had abandoned them, it was something Brianna had settled on years ago in her isolation. It seemed it was harder still for the apprentice of her friend. "If she's listening, and she knows the danger posed, she may yet return. It's not yet time to abandon hope."

When Sereti emerged from behind the divider at last, she was fully done up in more traditional Jedi robes. Gone were the long sheets of white trimmed in gold flowing off her body. Her hair was pulled back, armor plates had been fitted under her coat, and even her Luka Sene shoulderguard had finally seen a return to use.

"If she does return here after the battle, please, tell her I forgave her long ago." Sereti lowered her head for a moment, eventually using that as an opportunity to put on the visor from her old uniform as well. "Perhaps there is yet a larger plan to this, pushing me to step down and ask for your return right before I fly off to what will probably be my last battle."

"Perhaps. If I learned anything from Surik however, it's that you never truly know what the outcomes will be. There may yet be an unexpected development."

Sereti sighed to herself, and after straightening herself out, finally made her way out to head for the landing bays.

"I suppose I can at least hope that it is a good development. Things will be bad enough. Force be with you, Grand Master Brianna."


	43. Hollow Chest

Izan's skin was still numb from the sonic shower when he felt the ship lift off. Barely after putting on fresh clothes, he felt the rumble of atmospheric departure. They were certainly taking off in a hurry.

"Jayden, we good? Dana? Maarani?" After hastily shaping his hair into something vaguely decent, he made his way out into the corridor at last. "Cecile? You all at the cockpit again?"

The ship rumbled again, this time to mark the jump to hyperspace. Still no answer.

As he drew closer to the cockpit, he heard sniffling. Maarani's unique style, where she had to gasp after every rasping inhale through her nose.

Through the hatch, he saw her at the pilot's seat. No Dana, no Jayden, and no Cecile.

"Maarani? Where are the others? Are they hurt?"

He nearly jumped in fright when Maarani whipped her head around. Immediately he was met with a gaze that didn't look right at all. Even though her eyes were bleary, he could see her otherwise blue irises were a mix of red and what looked to be light purple.

"What the hell…"

Maarani's face went right into her hands as she broke down into tears altogether, hiding those eyes from him.

"They betrayed me! They lied! Dana said she wanted us to become close, but she already forced that on me by tricking my father!"

Izan reached up to his head, where a great pain from his greater confusion was forming. "What? Is Dana your actual mother or something? You don't look half human, especially the freakish kind I've seen."

The only answer he got was a lot of mumbling and whimpering through her hands as they clenched harder onto her face.

In response, Izan put a hand up to his own face, if only to hold back the increasingly sillier possibilities coming to mind. "Who am I kidding, you're tangled up in so much contrived bullshit, surprise parentage would just be routine, wouldn't it?"

The mumbling went on for some time before Maarani finally pulled her head back up. The abnormal colouring in her eyes was gone, replaced by the pretty blue irises, and a lot of deeper blue around her eyelids from how hard she had been rubbing into them.

"Izan?"

By then, he had found a bulkhead to lean against, and only then managed to pull his hand from his face over the sorry display.

"Yes Maarani?"

Maarani rose from her seat, and very nearly stumbled into his arms, burying her face against his chest and starting up with the sobbing again, while simultaneously beginning to mangle his jacket.

With great hesitation, he very cautiously put an arm around to hold her behind her shoulders, underneath her lekku, in what he hoped would comfort her enough. Racial inclination was driving him to make her feel better, as so often was the case with Zeltrons and those in suffering, but every inkling of experience with her had put him on edge. And not just because they had long ago agreed on keeping a respectable distance from each other.

"Maarani, I hate to bring this up now, I really do. But, the ship is flying blind at hyperspeed, I have no idea where Cecile is, and I think you really need to lie down and let things settle. Putting all that out there."

He could feel her clenching harder, digging her nails into his jacket with a force that made him worry about punctures in the material. That worry didn't fade when she looked back up at him at last. Still blue eyed, but with a real fierceness behind them. Distressed and very much angered still. Very bad.

"Don't go back for them. You hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you. I won't go back for them."

However painful it was to say with complete honesty, as he didn't have any real plan on how else to proceed, it did make her release the hold on his jacket and finally back down.

"Go lie down, let me handle things for a while."

As soon as she broke eye contact, he moved past to the pilot's chair and dropped them back into normal space immediately. Thankfully they were in deep space again, far from any immediate concern he would have to deal with.

"Tell you what. Once I've checked on Cecile, I'll find us a nice planet to set down on, and get you sorted out. Alright?"

Again, the only answer was incoherent mumbling before her sobbing picked up again.

He waited until she was heading down the corridor to her room before making his way through the ship. The last he remembered before the blackout that he assumed was the mind control was playing cards with Cecile in the common room. If Carudan had simply used him to give a shutdown command as soon as he was able, she would still be there.

To his greater concern, she wasn't.

"Cecile? On the odd chance you've just been hiding out for no particular reason, you there?"

No reply, though he didn't really expect one.

With a shrug that involved flailing his arms about, he continued in the direction of the engine room. The hatch there was closed, unusual as all the hatches in the centre section of the ship were generally left open.

"Cecile?"

He undid the locking mechanism, allowing the hatch to slide away and reveal the droid herself behind it, all four arms crossed in what he guessed was meant to be a disapproving posture.

"Took you long enough. You could have simply asked me to remain in here for further work on the engines."

Izan couldn't help reaching up behind his head in a moment of awkwardness. "Wasn't really my choice, not in control of myself at the time. Don't suppose a sorry will do?"

Cecile's eyes flickered in that way that always unnerved him.

"Also, do you know how we went from playing cards to 'me' locking you in here? That part I'm not recalling."

After unfolding her arms, the droid moved past in about as cold a way as she could manage. "You developed the sudden impression that there was something wrong with the engines. I went to investigate, and before the hatch was closed I saw a bald purple woman in your presence."

"Bald purple…?" He scratched at his head a little harder. "Nevermind. Just don't bother Maarani for a while, she's in a really bad mood."

"And the others?"

There he had to stop for breath, a disparaged look taking over. "She marooned them. I'm sure they've got ways to contact the Jedi for rescue, right now we have to worry about Maarani. And I don't mean how we're going to help her." He cautiously moved to either corridor, peering down each on the odd chance she was listening in. With no sign of her, he looked back to Cecile. "I don't need a psych degree to know she's really unstable right now. Keep her appeased. Oh, and maybe change both airlock codes to something only you know for the time being."

It was a great deal for Cecile to process, but she too had learned enough to know when it was required of her to do exactly what was asked without questions when the problem revolved around her mistress.

"You believe she may try to throw herself out?"

Izan sighed with a disparaging tone behind it. "No. I'm afraid she'll throw either one of us out. At least you don't need air to breathe."

"Quite, I understand the concern. Should we also disarm her?"

"As much as I'd like to, I'd rather not set her off by trying. Without Jayden or Dana, we need to play it carefully. Just act natural, whatever that is for droids, and don't take her weapons unless she actually decides to use them."

"If you insist."

Again he sighed, this time in annoyance, but left the matter at that and made his way back to the cockpit.

In that time, Maarani had sneaked into his own room to steal one of the bottles he kept hidden, and was back in her own by the time he was done, guzzling the whole lot down quickly in a desperate attempt to drown out her woes.

Of course, it only exemplified the problem.

* * *

" _Move decimal X7 to location Peth. Exchange decimal X7 for quotient 11. Evaluate and proceed to next move._ "

Izan nearly felt his brain melting out through his ears. "Cecile, what in the everliving hell made droids come up with their own games?"

" _I have not the faintest clue._ "

He groaned and reclined into the chair more. The quiet hum of the ship hurtling through hyperspace had become increasingly uncomfortable for the fact that it reminded him of how alone he now was. Even if he was the only man on board, most of the time he got along well enough with Jayden, and occasionally Dana if she was in a more pleasant mood. And Maarani was still very far from making him feel comfortable.

Without them, it was a monotony that he couldn't stand for much longer.

"Cecile, how's the hyperdrive doing? Might drop us out for a while, let it cool down or whatever."

There was the expected delay of Cecile going over diagnostics.

" _It is stable, but a temporary stop would hardly go to waste._ "

"Good enough."

A few cursory checks with the sensors, and a moment to remind himself of the routine followed. With a note of confidence, he went through all the steps and brought them back out of hyperspace entirely on his own.

The fact that he was alone anyway rather diminished the satisfaction to be had from it.

"Alright, we're in the middle of nowhere, again, I think. Do your thing Cecile."

" _Very well._ "

Izan set the ship on auto, with the proximity sensors on ship wide alert just for the sake of his own distant paranoia on the odd chance he fell asleep.

He was about to go check on Maarani when he spotted her in the corridor just to his left. She had taken of her jacket and shirt, leaving her in a dark grey tank top that had several stains across the top. The smell of alcohol was strong about her, and in that tense moment he could see lines of the drink running down her chin onto those same stains.

The look in her eyes was cold, but what made him truly uncomfortable was the glint of lust behind them. She was definitely past the point of simple intoxication.

"What? You gonna keep staring at me? Judging me? Or are you gonna man up and do something."

Izan suddenly found himself wishing he had asked for Cecile to come to the cockpit instead.

"Maarani, I'm worried. Alright? I'm worried because I'm your friend. And because you've got this really weird look that says 'I'm about to do something really stupid please stop me'."

She stepped forward, her hand fumbling against the bulkhead until it fell away when she crossed the empty gap between the four corridors, coming very close to Izan.

"Why? Why stop me? It's something you've wanted since we first met."

Izan's attempt to get a word in resulted in their lips locking, her hands snaking up to grasp his head in a grip that was strong enough to terrify him. Worse was the way her expression changed, how her body began pressing against his. It was no drunken lapse in judgement driving her to seduce him. The intent was real, and she wasn't about to take no for an answer.

When he finally managed to get his hands on her shoulders and shove her away, with more force than he had wanted as she slammed into the opposing wall, he felt numb throughout his body, even a little disgusted with himself.

"Maarani, you've kicked up such a huge fuss about only ever wanting to fuck women, I know this is not you, okay? I know this isn't you! If you're being mind controlled or something-"

"Mind controlled? What? I'm not allowed to decide if I want to go straight all of a sudden?"

She tried advancing again, only to find her wrists in his hands, holding her back more aggressively. When she tried pushing again, the grip tightened, and she became angry.

"You don't know what I've been through, what happened there! You don't know anything! All you have to do is get at it and we can be happy together! Why the fuck wouldn't you want to be happy for once in your stupid empty life!?"

He weighed up all the possible answers in his mind, including the ones he hated himself for even considering. Giving in, taking advantage of her clear lack of judgement was something his mother would do. It was what he outright refused to let himself become.

"You're not thinking right. If we went and did that, if we stayed together like that, you'd spend the rest of your life hating yourself for it." He cautiously let go of her wrists, making to retreat down one of the corridors. As far as he knew, there was no logical reason of any kind for the sudden change. He knew nothing about what she had learned about Azera Vass. "I don't care why you're doing this, I won't become another reason why you cry yourself to sleep. You need to sort things out yourself, and wait until we find that Azera of yours."

And that was his last stupid choice of words.

She went from a look of childish, almost bratty desire right to fury. Her fist swung up and struck him right in the nose.

"Don't say that name! You hear me! Don't-"

Izan returned the gesture, wincing loudly as his knuckles impacted her face. His nose was already bleeding, and while the distance between his head and the corridor wall was small, it was still enough to allow for a nasty bruise on the back of his head. His punch provided enough of an opportunity to try and slip away to get help from Cecile.

Maarani had other ideas, hooking her foot around his shin and yanking back. It wasn't enough to make him fall, but the stumble kept him within arm's reach. When he went up against the bulkhead for balance recovery, she wrapped an arm around his throat and yanked him back.

His elbow drove right into her stomach for that, which loosened her grip for a few seconds. She felt him twisting around while she recoiled, meeting desperate eyes right before she felt his knee slam up into her groin.

She took her turn at returning the gesture to much greater effect, grabbing at his head directly again and screaming at him in her mindless rage.

Despite being hunched over from the low blow, Izan had enough control to sneak his arm around and grab one of her lekku, violently twisting it around until she wailed in pain and released his head. His shoulder turned, and with what force he could muster, he charged her into the opposing bulkhead.

His clothes had blood stains all over by that point from his nose and other wounds to his face. Pain was pulsing throughout most of his body from the ordeal. Cecile still hadn't come to his rescue, and he developed the sudden concern that she had been locked away by Maarani that time. He needed to get away from her.

"You fucking maniac!"

She spat at him, and reached around her back. Shoved down behind her spine was her lightsaber, which she drew out in a threatening posture.

Izan's face, previously flushed a deep pink from the ordeal, nearly drained away to a colour close to that of some baseline humans.

"Don't do it. Maarani, don't do it!" He raised his arms in a futile gesture as she activated the blade, stepping back into the corridor leading towards his quarters. "You'll breach the fucking hull! You hear me!? Don't do it!"

"Shut up!"

She raised her hand to swing the blade down on him.

Four metal arms grabbed her from behind. One wrapped around her neck into a headlock, a second twisting her left arm up behind her back. The third slipped around her waist and heaved the air out of her lungs, the fourth grasping for the lightsaber.

As soon as Cecile had it in hand, sie deactivated it and tossed it at Izan.

"Take it! Go!"

Izan nearly fumbled the lightsaber from the pain wracking his hands, eventually pinning it against his body with his wrist instead and limping for his room. The door was slammed shut and bolted behind him.

The restraint only infuriated Maarani more. After several attempts to kick back at Cecile's legs, she pried her arms open and spun around. Her fist connected with the droid's head, creating one dent, and then another, and another.

There was no further attempt from Cecile to fight back. Her eyes merely flickered as the assault continued, watching Maarani's knuckles bleed from every impact on her metal head.

After the ninth strike, she finally stopped, her whole body quivering in pain. Her blood had coated over Cecile's eyes, making her look positively nightmarish when they flickered on and off. In fact, with the scraps of synthflesh still on her form, her entire appearance now looked truly grotesque.

"Cecile? Cecile…"

Maarani faltered back, eventually bumping against the bulkhead and sliding down until she was huddled on the floor. The rage passed, finally enlightening her to the extent of her injuries, including a sharp throbbing in the end of one of her lekku.

She sat there for a long while, staring past her mangled hand, lost in thought.

"I can't keep going on like this. I've got nothing left. Nothing."

"Like the Mistress, then?"

She lifted her head a little. Cecile was still standing there, looking worse still now that the damage done to her head was easier to make out. All for trying to stop her from murdering yet again.

"Cecile, I'm so sorry."

The droid remained silent as she finally walked off to clean herself off.

Maarani didn't move much after that, sinking further into the depths of her psyche, trying to find any way out of the situation she had put herself in. So many promises dashed, so much trust betrayed.

The Lady of Balance was at the centre of it all.

Her exhausted musing reached a point where she began crawling over to Izan's door through the corridors, not feeling as if she had even the will left to stand up and walk over. She slumped against the cold metal and lay there, cheek pressed against it, some of the dried blood on her face scraping away.

"Izan."

"I'm not giving it back! You can fly us into the nearest star for all I care!"

She rolled her eyes with such little determination she couldn't even see such a simple action through properly.

"Izan I'm sorry. I'm just… really fucked in the head. I don't know what reality is anymore."

"It's going to take a lot more than a simple fucking sorry! There's angry, and there's insane enough to murder friends and blow out your own ship! You've crossed the line Maarani!"

Her head thumped against the door when she sighed. He was right in that there was virtually nothing she could say to make things better. She didn't know what possibly could herself, or what she even expected to gain from making things right.

"Yeah, well… I'm the soulmate of a mass murderer, might as well get used to it."

The prolonged silence from behind the door was eventually broken by a sigh from Izan instead.

"That's just typical of you, isn't it Maarani? You go on at us about daring the universe to send us bad luck, but you've already taken the cake for horrible turns of fate, haven't you? Maybe you really do deserve Kiarna."

"Some encouraging talk this is. We're both bleeding and depressed, and you're making it worse."

"Counselling is not my job! In fact, it's the job of one of the two people you stranded! You incompetent, psychopathic bitch!"

"Yeah, keep the insults coming. You've got four -ism's and xenophobia to get through yet."

"It's not an insult when I'm stating facts! I thought leaving them behind was just another moody phase, but you sure proved me wrong!"

Maarani rolled her eyes again. It wasn't the first time she had heard that justification for insulting her, but coming from Izan made it hurt a lot more. Whatever she did in madness, he still mattered to her, deep down somewhere in her shrivelled heart.

"Dana… She's been lying about some pretty huge things. Like the fact that I've got her blood in me. That's what she tricked my father into doing. She used to be part of some dark side cult, and now I've got that taint in my body! And she thinks she can make it all better by pretending to be my mother!"

She heard Izan twisting around to get closer to the door.

"Are you fucking serious? You had a pair of loving parents and brothers who cared about you, and when you lost them someone else actually had the _gall_ to try and fill that void in your life, and you abandoned her for that!? I was wrong Maarani! You are just outright selfish!"

A tense silence settled after that. After some time, she could hear him breathing heavily, but wasn't entirely sure why.

"It would be incredible if someone actually gave enough of a shit about me to throw their whole life away for my sake. I'm the son of a failure so bad he won't even be worth cremating into space, and a woman who was ready to sell out the literal last Jedi in the galaxy for a few fucking credits! But do you hear me complaining about that? Do you see me slapping away hands trying to make me feel less shit about myself?"

Tears began to well in her eyes again. There wasn't a nerve left in her body to answer him.

"And quite frankly, I think you're taking this soulmate crap way too far. Either the big mystical being calling herself the Lady of Balance actually has a plan in mind to make everything better between you two, or you're just wallowing in misery over being 'picked' for a mass murderer because it's easier than actually trying to make things work on your own with someone else who isn't the daughter of a cult leader! Get over it!"

For whatever reason, she didn't actually break down at that. She was too preoccupied coming to terms with how it sounded coming from another, someone who clearly didn't understand the significance it held to Twi'lek.

"I can't get over it Izan. I can never get over it. My soul is linked to hers, it has been since we met on Sarka. I can never bond with anyone else now because of that." Her hand clenched a little. "Wouldn't expect a Zeltron slut to understand anyway. All you do is drink up, fuck each other, and let the rest of the galaxy burn. You don't care about living a meaningful life."

The silence from behind the door drew on and on, to a point where she eventually stood up, bracing herself for when he eventually spoke again.

"You're right. I was raised not to care because my parents don't, because my race doesn't. And for a while after meeting you, I thought I could care about bigger things. But you're so full of yourself I don't see the point in trying anymore. At least Chaser had the guts to go and join the army and make something of herself."

Maarani sniffed a little, then tilted her head a little. "Chaser?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

She thought about that for a while longer, then inhaled sharply. "I think I had a crush on her at one point."

"Well that's not weird at all."

"One of the mechanics doing Red Squadron maintenance before Sarka was a Zeltron called Chaser. I told Koor nothing was ever gonna come of it because she wasn't interested…" Her hand rested against her face while she leaned against the bulkhead behind her. "Small galaxy huh?"

The door slid open to reveal a battered Izan, looking down and defeated. In one had was her lightsaber, his blaster the other. He didn't look ready to use either of them, but certainly wasn't going to hand them over either.

"One more chance, Maarani. We go back, we get Dana and Jayden, and they sort you out. When I'm risking my life on your behalf, I am not going to have the risk be coming from you. Got it?"

She nodded slowly, biting on her lip to try and keep calm. Now wasn't the time for more of her wayward comments.

"Yeah, yeah I got it. Maybe we get patched up first though."

"No apologies here. You threw the first punch, and I only know to fight dirty."

Maarani sighed, about to rebuke just how painful the twisting of her lekku was when an alarm from the cockpit drew her attention.

"Wait, that's the proximity alert…"

Before she could say any more, the two of them passed out, slumping to the floor with a mild groan.

"Mistress? Pinksin?"


	44. Left Behind

Neither Jedi spoke on the trek through the forest. The wind was howling above, causing what rain that made it through the treeline to pelt down in what felt like icy shards striking the top of Dana's head and shoulders. Jayden looked rather cozy in her helmet and armor, but it was hardly the time for any kind of jealousy or complaining about her less fortunate attire.

As it turned out on descending a hill, the armor became more of a hindrance as mud overtook crushed leaves and sticks underfoot. While Jayden could theoretically remove her left boot and take the chance of jabbing it on something, a jab into the synth flesh of her right foot would not heal at all. In fact, any damage to her right leg below the hip could prove to be disastrous. The kit fitted into the leg itself was only designed for patchwork until she could seek the aid of a proper technician after all.

She didn't particularly feel like hobbling around a soaked forest on one foot while carrying her leg around in hand.

Ascending the next rise put an end in sight to the slog. The hill they were climbing was much higher, and backed up into a mountain range. They would be safe from the worst of the wind and any sudden floods, and given a good spot they would also be protected from mudslides.

Being left in the forests of Mires with nothing but a sonar insect repellant device and a vibroknife seemed trivial against the night that lay ahead of them.

It was in a particularly thick area of the hilltop forest that they stopped. What little clear space there was looked noticeably darker than others around them thanks to some especially large trees. While not free from the rainfall that worked its way down, it was definitely the best they could hope for.

Dana brought out her lightsaber for illuminating the area while she searched for a tree branch to spend the night on, not trusting the potential risk of sleeping on the ground.

After the stress of the long hike, there was little Jayden could do to start up with the questions spawned of a bad mood. "Why don't you start a fire? You clearly have me beat on that expertise."

The intended slight against her was so obvious that Dana only scoffed in response, making the first of several leaps towards her selected spot. "The humidity is overwhelming. There won't be a single dry twig in this entire area, perhaps the planet. Even a Mandalorian flamethrower wouldn't last long."

"Oh, so fire conjured from the Force is afraid of excessive moisture? You can make it pure white, but not hot enough to dry out kindling?"

Dana remained silent, clambering up to her branch and working into what could remotely qualify as a comfortable spot.

Jayden, still on the ground, wasn't ready to let things drop. "You know I don't have the agility of most Jedi because of my leg! And you know what else? I can't spend the next five days without safe drinking water or food! I'm not capable of meditating to sustain myself through the Force! How do you propose we find food on a planet that has yet to show any sign of animal or fruit life, or boil water if you won't produce fire!"

All she got was a gust of wind that sneaked in through the canopy. Her helmet came off, slammed to the ground below in a splash of mud. The droplets of water that splashed into her tied back hair stung like Miresian thorns.

"Answer me! I gave up spending time with my husband after years of service to the Jedi for this! I have risked my life time and again defending that Twi'lek brat! I am owed answers!"

A branch pelted her head on its way down to the ground, causing her to stumble back and grab at her helmet again.

Dana finally chose that moment to speak. "I've lost the trust of the only other effective member of my race, the one person left in this galaxy I care about. You'll excuse me if I'm not in the mood to talk."

Jayden swore several times while putting her helmet back on, most of them directed up into the tree. Not that it made any difference.

"There might be supplies left at the excavation camp, if it hasn't washed away. We go there tomorrow. Now get some sleep and shut up."

And she did just that herself, closing her eyes and firming her position on the branch, making sure she was properly resistant to the cold, the wet and the wind before settling into rest.

On the ground, Jayden paced around for several solid minutes before finally finding a firm spot of her own to sit down on, lying back against the trunk of a tree that had a convenient notch her helmet leaned into. Very far from comfortable, but at least she wasn't in danger of wringing any muscles by the time whatever qualified as morning would come.

* * *

The night passed by without incident. If there were creatures large enough to be a nuisance to Jayden in the protection of her armor, or Dana up in the tree, they were either not in the area or smart enough to not bother two Jedi.

It was entirely possible they had been driven off by the dark disturbance in the Force that had emanated from the battle the day before.

Dana was first to wake, jumping down and landing on both feet in near perfect silence. She waited until her boots were back on before waking Jayden.

"It's not pitch black anymore, and the winds have calmed somewhat. Now is the time to move."

From the cover of her helmet, Jayden woke with a bit of a glare at Dana, but did rise to her feet nonetheless. There was little to become comfortable with after all.

"I suppose you know where the base camp would have been from this position?"

"Back down the hills, they set up some distance from the building on the odd chance it was harmful to be around. And no, I didn't see any swoop bikes left at the site."

"Oh yes, because swoop bikes are suited fine for dense forest. We'd be lucky to get two hundred metres without colliding into something."

The hike back down the hill went quietly after that. With the light vaguely improving, instead of vaguely fading, they could at least see where they were going, as opposed to having to use the Force to check every step they made.

Gruelling hours passed before they reached any sign of others before them. A supply backpack, emptied long ago by creatures they had still yet to encounter. But it was an older design, and it was the first reassuring sign they had.

"You'd think there'd be a blaster or something left in there. I left my carbine on the ship, and lightsabers aren't ideal for hunting."

Dana made no comment, choosing instead to push on. It wasn't long after that they reached what remained of the base camp, a clearing of rusting metal, tents that had collapsed long ago and were only visible through the muck by the support poles that somehow remained standing, and a notable lack of any vehicles.

Not usually one to fall into despair, it was still a depressing sight for Jayden. "I don't know if there's even enough to salvage for some alternate tools. The lightsabers won't hold a charge forever if we have to keep using them."

"We won't be here that long."

Jayden watched as Dana picked her way through the remains to a particularly dense part of the forest. At a point before the treeline, she stopped, slowly turned around, and approached a specific location to kneel down over.

"Found something?"

Dana raised her hand for silence, then brought it back down to the muddy surface. Her eyes closed, moving her perception beyond what she saw in front of her.

The ground began to rumble. With a groan of metal, a section of the mud began to rise at last, revealing a ramp that led into a dark passageway below.

She stood back up and drew her lightsaber again. "I didn't want to get our hopes up on there actually being a secret tunnel where they set up camp. It's still possible there's nothing left to find down there."

Jayden looked around the remains, then at the bleak sky still pouring rain down on them. What was there to lose?

"I don't know if there's anything to be found up here. After you then."

After the lightsaber came on, Dana took the first step down the ramp. Musty air was starting to seep back out, warmed by the geothermal power that ran the complex, or what was left of it anyway.

"Keep your lightsaber ready. The place Teegs and I visited was in very good condition, chances are there are still active droids around. No telling if the race that built this were paranoid or not."

"Wonderful. Potentially hostile droids in a humid dark corridor."

When they reached the base of the ramp, a few metres below the surface, Dana turned around and closed the hatch behind them carefully. "I'd rather that out way back out not be flooded, or have wildlife prowling around it."

Jayden shrugged it off. A walk through a humid tunnel sounded less appealing against cold rain and mud, but at least there was the comfort of actually having a defined direction to go in.

Their journey through the tunnel quickly changed her mind. Even though there were no visible turns or crossroads, the sense of retracing their footsteps became heavy on her mind. Nothing but tubes and cables to her left and right, the hard metal surface below and above, and the glow of Dana's lightsaber ahead.

It had been at least a few hours walk when Dana finally sighed and stopped, finding a comfortable spot to sit down and rest her aching legs.

"I truly wish I had paid more attention in those studies. I haven't a clue as to what exactly could be waiting for us ahead."

"So much for trying not to get our hopes up."

While not nearly as physically exhausted, Jayden took that opportunity to sit down beside her and remove her helmet at last, coughing briefly on the unfiltered air around them.

"I'm sorry Jayden. I pushed for Teegs to go off on her own, I thought I could help her. I got too attached."

Jayden laughed, at the futility of their predicament, and Dana's confession more than anything.

"That's always the way of fallen Jedi, isn't it? Someone gets attached, and the next thing you know, the whole fucking galaxy is tearing itself apart. Maybe I'm not one to talk, being married and all, but it really does dumbfound me just how amazingly repetitive the problem is."

"I'm hardly a fallen Jedi though. I'm just a bitter shell of a woman that used to exist, trying to eek out what's left of her kind while silently cursing the Jedi mantra. To fall, you have to reach a height to begin with." Dana scoffed, kicking her boots off again. "Making me a Jedi Master was a joke. It's all pathetic now. Koor's way too young to be on the Council, Sereti can't decide what her priorities are, all the old heroes have given up on the Order and gone their own ways. The Sith can't even decide if they want to invade or not anymore. Getting back to Teegs and straightening her out is quite literally the biggest problem we have to face. Everything else is just so meaningless."

"Can't call it a defeatist attitude, can I, given what you've been through?"

Dana turned her head in a cold glare. "Try it, really."

Jayden scratched at the scar tissue on her jawline. "Look at us, two scarred women with bad histories, murky relations with the galaxy at large, and all we do is bicker with each other." She hauled herself up, this time without replacing her helmet. "Come on, we've got nothing to lose by going the rest of the way. If there was anything else alive, or active, we'd have found it by now."

Just before the glow from her lightsaber faded out of view, Dana got up and hurried after her at last, breathing quite heavily by the time she caught up to her pace.

"If there's a dead end, and we just can't make it back out, then I'm sorry again."

"How about a new ground rule; we don't give up until we can no longer draw breath."

"Aren't you supposed to say that in Mando'a, according to tradition?"

"What's the point if I have to translate it anyway? Or is Maarani not the only other one who speaks it?"

Dana nodded, then lifted her head. "Jariler ir Jetiise etyc, kyr'amur an."

That made Jayden draw a breath in shock. "Where in the hell-"

"You forget, Suroni was there at the time of Mandalore the Indomitable. Those Chosen of Vahl learned many phrases from him. They used them to spite the Jedi when they came and butchered their families, their children. Some things you don't forget, even when they came from a past life."

"Right, forget I said anything."

As it turned out, it wasn't much longer before the seemingly endless corridor did in fact come to an end.

After Dana cast a small plume of fire around the room to provide better illumination, both their moods went up drastically.

It was a hangar bay, and it was far from empty.

"Actually, do remember what I said. Looks like I might not end up starving after all."

"We still need to catch up to them. And we don't have a good way of storing water yet."

They made their way over to the spacecraft. It was small, perhaps no bigger than the middle section of the Distant Star itself as a whole. But, it lacked signs of corrosion or decay, and the engines certainly looked as if they were designed with interstellar travel in mind.

"That's also assuming it still functions."

While Jayden began pacing around the hangar itself in search of anything worth taking, Dana approached the vessel itself. The design was definitely unlike anything in the known galaxy, but it still at least seemed to have been made with bipedals in mind. Fortunate for them.

Upon locating what appeared to be the hatch, she carefully reached out with the Force. After some searching, she tripped the mechanisms inside, allowing it to slide open and reveal the dark rooms within.

"Alright, there's definitely still some active power."

Lightsaber raised, she took a cautious step inside. No long dead remains, or any smells that warned of danger. Many of the control panels in the main compartment looked completely unfamiliar, without a clue as to what their purpose was. The cockpit when she eventually found it was at least vaguely like any other that she had seen. Even if she had little idea what she was doing, there was at least the potential to fly out without crashing.

She passed her hand over the whole array, this time searching for the power up sequence. To her relief, the panels began to illuminate at last, as did a series of lights in the ceiling above her as well as the other compartments.

"We might be okay after all."

Her lightsaber returned to her belt while she made her way back into the main compartment. Now that it was properly illuminated, she could at least see some of the devices built into the ship itself for what they were. Most notably, a water purifier that had emptied long ago, and an oxygen scrubber that while old, still seemed to be holding up well enough.

With newfound optimism, she stepped back out of the ship. "Found anything?"

"Nothing. Not even an empty canister. And I'm not sure it gets any better."

Dana found her by the hangar doors where she had pulled open an access panel. Unlike the ship, there was no sign of power in any of the circuitry there.

"Great, we have a hopefully working ship, but no way to get it out."

"Oh, we might be able to get this open." Jayden tugged at some cables, causing a loud thump to echo through the room. "The magnetic seals are off now. We get the ship ready to launch, force the door open ourselves, and we're good to go."

"And you just figured that out in the past minute?"

"This isn't the first time I've broken a heavy seal. I know what to look for."

With a shrug, Dana stepped back towards the ship and raised her hands. "Alright, let's give this a go."

Her breathing slowed as a rumble went through the room, her hands starting to shake ever so slightly as she concentrated on lifting the door. It quickly became apparent just how tough the process was going to be.

"It's still very heavy, and I'm probably fighting the mechanisms here. I don't know if I'm strong enough for it."

Jayden was quick to circle around, feeling the metal door before finding a good spot to hook her hands into and begin lifting with a loud groan.

"No kidding! They built this thing to last."

After several seconds, the door budged ever so slightly, revealing a new problem as water began to flow in from beneath the door's seal.

Dana's concentration broke immediately. "Oh shit."

In a quick move, she twisted her head to the doorway they had come through and slammed that door shut. "Jayden, I think we're in trouble here!"

By then, she had pulled it up a bit more, feeling some of the eons of built up tension starting to ease. It was only then that she really took notice of the water now rushing around her feet.

"We haven't gone down at all! How is it flooding?"

"I don't know! Look, we only have so long before the water overcomes the air pressure in here, just get in the ship and we'll lift it from in there."

"You know I can't work from a distance! Just…" With one last look at the ship, Jayden groaned again and quickly shoved her helmet on with one hand. "Get the ship ready, and fly out of here as soon as you have clearance! I'll get inside once it surfaces!"

"That's a terrible plan! Even Teegs would say as much, and she wanted you to punch a Hammerhead destroyer while riding on top of the _Distant Star_!"

The door slid open a little more, increasing the rush to a bubbling torrent.

"I'm a half-Mandalorian Jedi, I'll manage that kind of swim!"

Dana threw up her hands. "That's if the ship actually flies at all and we don't end up drowning!"

"We agreed on no quitter's talk! Go!"

With little else to argue, Dana waded back through the rising water and hopped up into the ship, closing the hatch behind her. Her view through the cockpit screen wasn't ideal, but she could see Jayden, and just how much clearance she needed.

"I'm not sure you can lift it high enough anyway! This ship isn't exactly economic on vertical space!"

" _I'll get it open! Get the ship moving before it floods!_ "

"Next thing you know, it's not even watertight, let alone airtight…"

The door moved up a bit again. While she fumbled for the drive controls, she watched Jayden positioning herself so that her shoulder was braced under the door. The flow of water had to be immense by that stage, and she was still holding her own.

"May the powers of the Force be with us in this desperate hour."

There was an incredible sense of relief when she throttled what she assumed was the engine drive, and a familiar hum came from the rear from the ship in response. After a few more guesses, she felt it lift off the floor enough to retract the landing struts. Water was starting to splash over the cockpit windows by then.

"Jayden it's going! You'd better be up there because I'm not leaving you behind!"

In the meantime, Jayden had been practically screaming at the exertion she was putting herself through to force the door open in larger shoves. Every time, she could feel the mechanisms giving a little more, but it still wasn't nearly enough to open it all the way.

Worse still, the water level was quickly rising up over her head. Her armor had not been designed with full immersion in mind, so she was left holding her breath and struggling against the obstacle above her.

 _The Force is my strength. I am the wielder, and the Force is my strength._

She braced her body again, repositioning both hands for one final push.

 _The Force is my strength!_

In another cry that sent a flurry of bubbles from her mask, she forced herself to stand, all of her strength channeling into the door and grinding it up well past her reach. The torrent that it allowed through threw her off her footing altogether, knocking past the ship as it moved forward into the open water ahead.

Dana did her best to ignore the sound of water trickling into the compartment behind her as she brought the ship forward. She could see very little through the windows due to how little light there was to begin with, and the fact that the water itself was choking with mud and forest debris. It was still enough to know where the surface was, which she made for at the best angle she could.

"Jayden, if you're still listening, don't leave me waiting…"

She let out a great sigh of relief when the ship broke the surface, coming to a hovering rest just above the turbulent water. When she felt confident in leaving the controls there, she dashed from the cockpit to the hatch, glancing around first to locate any tools to repair that leak she had heard.

Opening the hatch left her exposed to howling winds that nearly blew her back inside when she tried to lean out and peer below the surface.

"Jayden!"

Rather suddenly, an armored hand splashed up from the water. She grabbed at it immediately and did her best to haul Jayden up, no easy feat even for a Jedi given her size, the weight of her armour and the weight of the water still flooding her armor.

As soon as she had a hold on the ship itself, Jayden tore off her helmet, leaving water splashing over her face as she took a desperate breath.

After several more, she hauled herself up out of the water, clambering into the main compartment while Dana rushed back to the controls. Water was running free from the seams in her boots, legs and chestpiece, and while the flesh connecting her synthetic leg was particularly cold, she hadn't lost function in it.

The ship began to move away from the rushing water. After dripping out enough, she pulled herself in properly and closed the hatch at last, just lying there and enjoying the ability to breathe again.

"Thank you, Dana."

Once Dana had found the clearing they had landed in with the _Distant Star_ , she set the ship down and returned to Jayden's side at last.

"How're you doing? There's at least one hole we need to plug, and you'll have to dry off before you get sick from whatever bacteria was in that water."

Feeling notably paler already, Jayden gripped onto the nearest surface and made herself sit up a bit. Her matted hair felt cold enough already, and the thought of being dry seemed like a far off prospect.

"I'll manage. I've fought off worse things from my body. Just, make the repairs, let me worry about myself."

Dana glanced around again in search of that toolkit she was hoping for, then back to Jayden.

"Mark my words, no-one is going to forget that heroic stunt of yours when I tell them. Not least of which being your husband. That was undeniably above and beyond what I've come to expect of Mandalorians."

For how weak she was feeling, Jayden still managed a hearty laugh. "Lifting up a door in the middle of a flood, kinda pales in comparison to punching a starship head-on. I think I'll wait before commissioning a song about 'The Jedi of Mandalore', thank you very much. Still something to be said for 'Dana the Redeemed' though."

With a smile of her own, Dana gripped onto Jayden's shoulder then stepped past.

"Fine. I know the galaxy might've forgotten about the name Kanjeff in lieu of Revan, but at least I won't go down in history as Suroni. Just remember, it' A, okay?"

Jayden managed a smirk before closing her eyes. "Got it."


	45. Bound by Blood

Cecile walked over to the unconscious pair, kneeling down to nudge each of them carefully. Neither showed any sign of reaction.

"Is this a stage of consummation I am not aware of? Hello?"

The lights throughout the ship dimmed abruptly, leaving them bathed in the ambient green once again. Even the hum of the ship's engine ceased, leaving an eerie, almost complete silence behind.

Cecile rose back up with a slight grind in her knees, looking around the corridor. There was still one sound that hadn't gone out with the rest of the ship, a repeated beeping.

Her eyes flickered, and with another look at Maarani and Izan, she straightened up and made her way over to the cockpit.

"They probably allowed a critical system to drain the energy reserves, and now life support has failed. Typical negligent-"

It hadn't taken long to reach the cockpit, and while she had noticed it was the proximity alarm that was sounding off, it wasn't until she took a look up through the top of the window that she noticed the real problem about to overwhelm them.

"By the Maker!"

An Imperial destroyer was moving into position overhead, ready to draw them into the lower landing bay.

With little time left, she left the cockpit in stride and made her way to the weapon locker. Out came the case carrying her quad set of blasters, which she replaced into each of her wrists. Now armed and ready, she calculated what her next move was to be, eyes flickering yet again.

"They cannot be allowed to harm the Mistress."

The box she hid away again, then made her way over to the top of the boarding ramp, standing ready for the inevitable arrival of Sith troopers.

* * *

" _Level one alert. All hands on standby._ "

A squad of troopers jogged down the corridor, weapons in hand, followed up by two officers and a Sith apprentice in a procession headed for the lower landing bay. Many of those on their way about the ship moved to either side, concerned about the sudden movement but not questioning it outright, behaving as any Imperial was expected to.

By the time the troopers arrived, the _Distant Star_ had been tractored in through the doors, and after a command to the onboard computer to perform landing procedures, was now being settled in on the deck itself.

The troopers formed up in defensive positions around the boarding ramp, leaving room for the two officers, Harton and Jenrik respectively, and the apprentice that only went by the name Night to step forward.

"Ready arms! Fireteam Onith, prepare to board and retrieve captives!"

The outermost four troopers of the procession changed position, now ready to move inside at speed.

When the ramp began to lower, Night raised his arms, looking for any sign of hostility, itching for a chance to use his honed powers.

After a few tense moments, a childcare droid shuffled down the ramp.

"Thank the Maker! Words cannot express my relief at seeing people! My owner and her lover simply fell unconscious without warning, and I couldn't wake them at all!"

A collective sigh of disappointment went through the troopers, and even Night himself who grumbled to himself about stupid droids.

Harton motioned his hand for Onith team to proceed inside, which they did in perfect formation, leaving him to deal with the droid. "Be silent. Do not attempt to interfere, or you will be destroyed on the spot."

Cecile straightened up, keeping all four of her hands against her sides. "As you wish." She took note of the guns trained on her while she moved well out of the way, holding position when Harton motioned at her to stop.

Not long after, the Onith troopers barreled back down the ramp. The first two had Izan and Maarani slumped over their shoulders respectively, the third following behind them for armed protection. The fourth made his way back over to Night.

"Found this between them."

Raising an eyebrow, Night picked up the crudely made lightsaber, turning it in his fingers a few times. He slid the cover open to get a look inside, raising his other eyebrow at seeing the cracked red crystal within.

"Very good. I'll pass this along. If you find any other lightsabers, inform me immediately."

While he walked off, Harton motioned for his counterpart to board the ship along with the rest of the troopers. "Confiscate and secure any other weapons in Locker B3, supplies are to be left on board. Lady Sloane will be making a personal inspection, I expect top notch behaviour."

"Yes sir!"

As soon as they marched off inside, Harton turned to Cecile once more. "Report to Droid Maintenance Bay Three. Obey all instructions and you might just leave with your owners. Understood?"

Cecile nodded her head with a loud squeak. "Clearly."

"Off with you then."

Keeping her head high, she walked off in the direction of the nearest corridor where Maarani and Izan had been taken. At the first intersection, she stopped and moved to one corner, making note of the signs in the place before moving on.

" _Major Karren, report to requisition office to receive your delivery. Major Karren, report to requisition office._ "

Somewhere in the middle of mapping out a third intersection, Cecile noticed a sentinel droid approaching her. Her scanners went off immediately as she began to approach as well.

"It appears my navigation systems are subpar. I am having trouble locating Maintenance Bay Three."

The sentinel droid responded in Binary, directing a hand towards the left most corridor.

"My most humble gratitudes. Long live the Empire?"

The droid opposite her beeped in agreement, watching closely as Cecile walked off in that direction.

" _General notification; all uniforms are to be checked for badges and other objects before cleaning. Check uniforms before cleaning._ "

Just before reaching the droid section of the ship, a small poster attached to a doorway caught her attention. Written in Aurebesh was a warning about hazardous materials inside. With an indignant huff, she strode over and ripped it off from the bottom up, casting the ruined poster aside.

"Hmph, as if anyone will fall for that one."

Her eventual arrival in the maintenance bay was met with a surprising look at the array of Imperial droids working on board the ship. Quite a few were sentinels on standby, one of which was being attended to by a repair droid. The ship's protocol droid was lying on a table undergoing maintenance of its own by a human man, who glanced at her once before returning to his work.

"You. State your designation."

Cecile turned to the droid that had spoken, a rather well polished model that she didn't recognize. It had large ocular sensors, and a very visible vocalizer in its square mouth that had a strong grate to its voice.

"CC-13. Programmed for child care, under the ownership of-"

"Silence."

The overseeing droid accessed its comparatively small workstation, muttering some things in Binary before looking back up. "Your presence has been logged. You will not leave this bay unless ordered." One of its ocular sensors extended out of its head, twisting to zoom in on her. "You are in poor condition. Authorization will be sought to begin repairs."

Cecile's eyes flickered. Her lower hands went to her hips, upper ones crossing over her chest. "I am perfectly functional, thank you very much. I don't need-"

"You are not authorized to object. Resistance will see you deactivated. Report to an evaluation station immediately."

There was very little recourse left, no real action she could take other than to abide by their instruction. It was not the time to put her plan into action. She had to take the chance that they would not think too hard about what they found inside her wrists, and her head.

She tilted her head with indignance as she moved on to find the evaluation station she had been ordered to, resuming her scans of the vicinity once more.

* * *

As soon as Izan noticed that he was lying on a cold metal floor, and that there was a lot of his skin touching that floor, he bolted upright. The speed at which he did that left his head spinning badly, a fresh wave of nausea sweeping over and causing him to groan.

When his vision settled, he had the very disheartening view of a grey cell around him. The doorway had a particularly nasty variant of ray shield sealing it.

Normally, it was after getting a little too drunk that he found himself in such a cell, and at least in those cases he wasn't stripped down to briefs and left in the cold. There was little use in feeling compromised, so he accepted his condition and slowly stood up to approach the ray shield.

The corridor outside seemed to be devoid of guards, human or droid. From his limited view, he could see a few other cells beyond the one directly opposite.

"Hey, what's the deal? Where's my clothes? Where's Maarani?"

"Right here."

He looked to the opposing cell here Maarani was coming out from behind the small portion of wall that offered the only privacy left to them. She too had been stripped down to her underwear, and from the new marks on her face and body, had also been beaten very recently.

"Where are we?"

Maarani's lip quivered as she slapped a hand to her face in a way that was painfully sarcastic. The sort that indicated just how unstable she was yet again.

"Oh, I don't know. Try a fucking Sith destroyer you fucking moron!"

Izan scoffed to himself, almost walking back off to his own private corner. "Right, you're still in a bad mood. I'm in good hands aren't I?"

"Oh yeah, we're getting out of this one alright. Our Jedi friends will save us."

She slammed a fist against the ray shield, causing burns to her skin. Her expression remained unfazed.

"Oh wait! I fucking marooned them didn't I? Good job Maarani!" Her other hand came up so that she could put on a mocking voice. "Well gee Maarani, guess you'll have to break us out." That hand smacked against the ray shield as well. "Yeah, I'll get us out! There's a security panel right here in the cell, I'll just slice in with this keycard I nicked off the guard and prance around the ship in the nip like a cutesy little Twi'lek girl who doesn't have a clue what she's doing."

"Maarani, shut up."

Maarani brought up her finger for him.

"And stop being so fucking rude! Stop acting like a child and maybe start thinking on how the hell we get out of this!"

When she went back to hiding, he groaned in failure and started pacing the very limited space available to him. Czerka's days of dubious allegiance to the Sith were long gone, and the Empire wouldn't take money from the Exchange, even assuming that his mother would consider bailing him out a second time instead of leaving him to rot for his betrayal.

And as Maarani had so aptly put it, there was no-one else out there ready to rescue them.

Except for one.

"Say, where do you think-"

A door down to his left opened, the sound of several heavy footsteps approaching their position. Too many for a simple patrol, they were escorting someone.

"Open Cell Besh."

The ray shield on Izan's cell dropped, two guards moving right in, blasters at the ready. Another four took up positions outside, also maintaining ready positions.

"If this is an apology for manhandling us, I'll take it. That bitch over there doesn't deserve one."

That earned him a weapon barrel to his jaw, knocking him to the cold floor. It left him with the view of a barefoot woman stepping inside, nails painted black like the tattoos running up her bare legs, save for the thin strips of black fabric bound to anklets that left them swaying at the slightest movement.

He remained unapologetic as he slowly looked up at her, all the swirling tattoos beneath what material there was covering the essentials. What struck him as odd was how minimal the tassels hanging over her breasts were, when the headdress adorning her head looked absurdly lavish by contrast, spiralling out into a pair of black, sparkling horns that stood out against her stark white hair.

It wasn't until he gripped his bloodied chin, sharp black nails digging into his skin that he finally noticed the headdress covered her eyes altogether. More importantly, when she spoke, it was without even turning her head to him at all.

"Strange. I've come to expect far more gratified reactions from prisoners. Not even a hint of wonderment? Of temptation?"

Izan bit down onto his tongue firmly. The woman holding him had a cold presence to her that was unmistakably Sith. And if he was right in his assumption, and she was Miraluka, that made her incredibly dangerous. She could have heard his speculation before even entering the room, ruined that one shred of hope.

He had to bury all that away before he sensed it.

In a stroke of fortune, she was too distracted dragging him out into the open in front of Maarani to dig into his mind, and not with those dangerous nails.

"I'm seeing her presence on you, and yours on her body. You've clearly been intimate recently, so I assume this will have the desired reaction."

Small arcs of lightning leapt from her fingertips right into his head, making him cry out in pain.

Maarani, stuck in her cell while staring at the sickening display of sexualized depravity that was her Sith captor, didn't even bat an eyelid at Izan's suffering.

"Interesting. She's very good at hiding her feelings."

"She tried to rape me. That's not intimacy, you stupid Sith fuck!"

He cried out again, a faint hiss coming out over the zapping as his skin began to burn at her contact points.

"Quite frankly I fail to see the difference, nor do I care." She turned her head at last, black painted lips pursing as she noticed Maarani's proper reaction. "I also know you've met my cousin, twice now in fact. And from the thoughts in her mind, you've got a lot to think about. That makes me so happy."

Her hand twisted around, flowing over Izan's face until she had a finger pointed directly between his eyes.

"How much does he really mean to you, Twi'lek? Shall I put him out of his misery now? Or should I keep him around, use him as leverage to make you answer my questions? I do wonder…"

Izan's eyes fixated on Maarani as he faced the moment of death in front of him.

Maarani met his gaze, cold as ever. She didn't like being accused of things, and he had decided to go for the very low in distancing himself from her.

How easy it would be to have one less problem to worry about…

"He's like a brother to me. Not that I usually try seducing them, what with them being dead and all..."

After a chilling laugh from above, Izan felt the grip on his face grow slack, and fall away altogether. Spared for the moment at least.

"Take the Twi'lek to my chamber. On the way, Maarani, I'd like you to think back to the time you murdered a dear friend of mine." She stepped out of Izan's cell right before the ray shield went back up, motioning for the guards to attend to Maarani's cell instead. "A Mirialan by the name of Hodechi."

Maarani only had moments to think back and come to a shocking realization before she was issued a staggering punch to her gut that made her collapse in pain. The guards that grabbed her by the shoulders made no effort to drag her along the floor in any kind of tolerable fashion.

"One of the great Sith sorcerers under Darth Malak, killed by a Twi'lek woman with holes in her memory. The Republic must have broken her mind altogether to achieve such a feat. And they call us the heartless, murdering tide..."

She followed behind in small stride, motioning for her guards to follow.

"Inform Lord Rak'Sakar that the Twi'lek Maarani has been captured, and that Lady Sloane will be conducting her interrogation. We will finally have the answers we seek about her relation to Lord Lasidia, and both the Following and the Fallen."

She drew a slight breath when she stepped in a spot of blood on the floor, feeling it stain her pale toes.

"And have the mess cleaned up promptly. We don't want any further accidents."

* * *

Once more, Maarani found herself in the realm of the Lady of Balance, fully clothed, free of pain, free of Sith restraint.

When the Lady offered her hand for help, she took firm hold of it and rose to her feet.

"I'd say welcome back, but you are not here by choice. I am doing what I can to protect your mind from Sloane's attack."

After getting her bearings, Maarani took in a calming breath. For the first time in a long while, she didn't feel angry, or upset, or betrayed. She could ask her questions in a rational way.

"You knew Azera Vass was Kiarna. You had to know. Why tell me about Azera at all if you knew I was going to break when I found out the truth?"

She had seen the Lady at a loss for words once before, back in an earlier memory when they had first begun to communicate. This time, it looked as if she had an explanation in mind, only she didn't know how best to put it.

"It was a development I couldn't foresee. I expected that she would go to Katarr and deal with her inner darkness before revealing the truth to you. That she would had gone to the source of evil and chosen to walk the path of light, shed the name and being of Kiarna altogether. Maarani, I did not intend to deceive you by omission, I truly believed that the White Healer would win out over the Red Empress. The two halves of her mind, locked in battle with each other. The good person, and the evil entity."

Maarani remained quiet throughout, and when the explanation was done, she slowly stepped back to breathe in more, letting all of it sink in.

"A normal woman, and a Sith, in the same body. Just like me and the Lady of Sorrows? Is that why we're bound together, because we've both been mucked up in the head?"

The Lady gave a very regretful shrug. "The Lady of Sorrows was buried so far down I couldn't possibly save you from her, I had hoped that Azera could instead through her ability to heal. And to do so would require a bond that forms out of love that is pure beyond all, one that had to form first. But, in a twist of irony, it was Darth Nihilus who did that, by consuming the Lady of Sorrows and leaving you intact."

"Darth Nihilus? What's he-"

The Lady closed the distance between them again, raising a finger to Maarani's lips for silence.

"We cannot communicate for long. Sloane is constantly watching for my presence, she seeks to destroy me, and the Following. Do not trust a word she says. Until we meet again, choose your questions carefully." The grey marking on her face began to glow at last. "Trust in the Force. It has always been with you, and it still is to this very moment. Your trial has begun, as has Azera's. When it is over for you both, you will find peace together. I promise you that, Maarani."

* * *

"In for four."

"I'll call."

"Same."

Three sets of clinks came from the centre of the table as three sets of chips were tossed to the pool. The attention settled on Caura, who was carefully weighing up her hand of cards.

"Come on Caura, toss one if you have to."

She whispered something under her breath before throwing in five. That earned a chorus of admiring calls from the other three officers at the table.

"Feeling confident?"

Caura glared over the top of her cards. "I've got shift in an hour."

"You can cash out you know." Merik cracked a smile when the others gave him a jab for that. "This is a new game, no-one's an expert."

All four of them abruptly moved to stand when Harton strode up, looking a little red in the face.

He waved for them to relax, pulling off his cap and slinging it onto the corner of the free chair in a smooth motion. "Too late to deal in?"

"Not for you, Colonel." Karren picked up a few cards and tossed them over to him carefully. "What's your buy-in and starting bet?"

After taking a glance at the dealt cards, he sighed in feigned disappointment. "Buy in at twenty, start at three." While the equivalent of seventeen chips worth was handed to him, he wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Rough shift? All we heard is that some ship got picked up, and some prisoners were moved."

"It took over three hours to finish searching that vessel for weapons. Only half were contained in the proper locker. I'd write that crew off as a pair of blaster smugglers if it were up to me."

Merik smirked again, setting his cards down to set off the second round of betting. "And what does the brigadier believe?"

"This wasn't by his order. It came from Lady Sloane herself."

Kriege, the junior officer at the table, mumbled under his breath after throwing in his second bet. "You mean the Sith slut?"

Despite being a little worn out, Harton was able to manage a small chuckle. "You make it far too obvious you're new to the Imperial forces as a whole. Sith sorcerers are always looking to be the centre of attention. Lady Sloane chooses to flaunt as much skin as possible, Lord Kiarna made herself an iconic figure of destruction. Lord Vale, before the fall of the _Herald of Karath_ , would strut about in bright red armour. The few sorcerers that didn't take to the outlandish appearances, like General Tarran of the _Revenant Dawn_ , chose the uniform instead, thus standing out as a Sith who actually respects the chain of command. It's never about being one of many with them. Even Darth Lasidia would say as much."

"When she shows up again."

The other four officers turned to Caura, who was now turning a chip through the fingers of her free hand nervously. "Rumour is she's been gone for months now, off searching Unknown Space for her superweapon. And no-one's said anything about the White Terror in a while either. Haven't any of you heard."

Harton made a quick glance around the room before leaning over to speak in a hushed voice. "Lady Sloane may let most comments slide, but I would avoid remarks about the Dark Lord, and her apprentice. Her whereabouts are only our concern should Darth Rak'Sakar or General Morgak decide as much."

When he leaned back into his chair, he put a smile on and motioned for the nearest waiting girl to attend to him. "But, speaking of whereabouts…" He paused to order a light drink for himself. "Seeing as some of us are new to this crew, and orientation tends to skip over the personals, this would be an ideal time to learn more about our shipmates." He laid his cards down into the hand. "Colonel Raiker Harton, Telos."

Karren cracked a smile, laying down her cards in the hand as well. "Major Lise Karren, Corellia."

That made Kriege nod in approval, also joining the hand. "Lieutenant Nathan Kriege, Corellia."

His nod was reciprocated by a smile from Karren. "Small galaxy then."

Merik took one last look at his cards before folding. "Major Lon Merik, Korriban."

Kriege turned to him with a clearly disconcerted face. "You mean…"

In response, Merik nodded, cracking a dry smile. "Oh yes. Dreshdae was my home, until Revan came in and laid waste to the place. Not much more to be said about it."

They all soon looked to Caura, still toying with that chip in her fingers. She placed her cards down into the hand carefully, trying to look calm throughout.

"Captain Angel Caura, Kashyyyk."

Her forced calm demeanour almost broke when she noticed Kriege snickering almost immediately. "Can it already. I do outrank you by one so I can make that an order."

"Easy captain. No need to be upset over a name, or being associated with those furpoles."

Caura kept her glare while tapping her cards impatiently. "The fact that I'm a female officer is reason enough to be wary, without having to be called 'Angel' or have my birthplace listed as Kashyyyk."

"I haven't had a problem making it to major."

"Yes, I'm so empowered when looking at you Karren."

"Alright ladies…" Merik gestured to both before motioning for Karren to start the round. "I've got a good one about my previous assignment while we look at the draw."

Without breaking a sweat, Karren turned over her hand with a grin. "Full Alderaan."

Kriege tossed his cards over with a sigh of defeat. "Double."

After glancing at her hand again, Caura sighed as well, tossing her cards out. "Rush."

When the attention turned to Horton, he too looked at his cards again, looking ready to concede to Karren as well.

"It's a shame really, I only just got here…"

That defeated look remained while he turned over his cards. "Escape Rush."

It took a moment to sink in, but when it did, Karren merely laughed and extended her hand to him. "Well played colonel. Beaten at my own game, in a sense."

"Yes, I did wonder what the package in question was." He glanced at the pool, and rather than taking his winnings, smiled again and readied his chips for a new bet. "How about I take quarter earnings, and leave the rest to grow the pool?"

Karren grinned while collecting up all the cards for shuffling. "Careful. You haven't even gotten that drink yet."

"Careful indeed, it might just improve my holding face. Now, major, about your previous assignment you wanted to tell us about..."

Merik took the cards into his hand as they were dealt to him, grinning a little more at each. "Not long after that skirmish at Sarka, the more recent one, the munitions depot on Ord Radama received orders right from the top to move five hundred thermal detonators, including a few cases of high yield variants, into a single warehouse at a very specific location. Given the explosive potential such a high density of grenades presented, they ended up re-assigning a full platoon to guard that one building alone, myself included. Not that standing around that many explosives wasn't worrying, it was nonetheless a dull posting that I am more than grateful to be free of."

In that time, all had received their cards, and Harton had even gotten his drink which he sipped from quietly. "I'm sure a use will come of it eventually. It's pleasing to know you're a man of action in any case, not content to take an easy job such as that."

"I joined to fight Republic scum, not to stand around looking important. I'm just glad to be one step closer to that fight when it comes."

"As are many others I'm sure."

* * *

Maarani woke to the feeling of cold metal binding her limbs, a single light glaring into her eyes overhead, and an uncomfortable amount of darkness around her. It went beyond the usual type of interrogation chamber. This one had been designed specifically to make her feel isolated, while also ensuring there were no walls around to offer that minor comfort of security. Pure psychological manipulation. Anyone, anything could be hiding in the dark spaces around her.

She had little options to work from.

"Tegama'Arani. Female. Ryloth. Flight Lieutenant. Blue Six. Republic Starfighter Corps."

"Reciting the details of your military record? How predictable, and dull."

From an area to Maarani's left emerged Sloane, her headdress and tassels glittering in the lifeless light when she approached the table. Her nails came to rest on the bright blue skin of her arm, pointing in threateningly.

"Why don't I get right to the point, Twi'lek? During your posting to Mirial, you murdered a Mirialan Sith named Hodechi. She was a good friend of another woman you mercilessly beat by the name of Molbe, and she was a good friend of mine."

Maarani chewed her lip, trying very hard to not even look in the direction of Sloane. She didn't want to give her any kind of attention.

"Perhaps you need some encouragement. We were part of a cult in the Sith formed by Darth Revan himself, the Night's Bitterkiss. I believe you are familiar with the one who originally led that cult, another Twi'lek called Yuthura Ban."

The sharp inhale heard made Sloane smile. There was her way in. "It's easy to forget the terrible things done when someone chooses to return to the light. Venu Kasua almost forgot her origins in the Bitterkiss. I hear she even tried taking on a non-sensitive apprentice to distance herself from that life of darkness. A shame she's fallen back to the darkness at long last, especially for Padawan Carmen Sendis."

The veins in Maarani's right arm flared up as she tried to take a swing, only for the restraint to tighten further in response. Her stifled breath brought on a soft laugh from Sloane.

"So, you do care for at least one Mirialan after all. I wonder if it is because of guilt. A need to wash your hands clean of the blood of her kindred in her eyes."

She extended her hand to Maarani's head, causing a slight rumble as she forced the Twi'lek to look directly at her at last.

"You really don't remember killing Hodechi, do you? The report from those oh so conveniently leaked files merely stated you were thrown into her holding room, and released hours later as the only survivor. Surely some of that sounds familiar."

Maarani's eyes quivered, her lip growing pale from how hard she was biting into it, trying to fight off the whispering in her mind that sought to delve through every one of her memories, and dredge them to the surface in the most painful ways possible.

"I suppose you have plenty of holes in your memory anyway. You don't even remember the Lady of Balance making contact with you just now after all."

The whispering stopped, giving Maarani a moment's peace to think for herself. Now more than ever she wished so desperately that it had been an encounter she could recall. Any word or bit of advice to endure what Sloane was going to put her through. Any bit of comfort when she was most vulnerable.

"Oh yes, I didn't capture you for revenge, it simply helped to redirect your mind for a while as I prepared for the real reason you are here."

Sloane gestured to a nearby table on the far side of the room, drawing over Maarani's lightsaber, which she proceeded to turn in her hands. "Your sister doesn't believe you pose any threat to the Sith. Darth Lasidia on the other hand believed it enough to command that you be avoided at great cost. I now know you are only part of the threat that the Lady poses to the Sith, the Following are another. A sprawling web of people, ideas. All intended to undermine and destroy the unity that has formed within the dark side, despite its very nature of self-destruction."

The whispering returned again, making Maarani grit her teeth. "You talk way too much for a Sith."

Through the black painted lips came a stark white smile. "There's a lot you must learn, Twi'lek, before I call our business done."

She placed the lightsaber on a nearby table and began to circle around Maarani. "I have studied many legends in my time, Sith and Jedi alike. I have searched the reaches of foresight for signs of the Sith'ari, but, I have also remained aware of the signs pointing to the counterpart, the Jed'nasa. Perhaps more commonly referred to as the Chosen One."

Maarani tried to spit at Sloane, only to choke on her own saliva for several terrifying moments until the hold on her throat was released.

"Please, don't interrupt. For a long while, I pondered on the nature of the Chosen One. A being who would restore balance to the Force, presumably by forcing Jedi and Sith into a stalemate, and eventual peace. And then, one day, I reached a very crucial question."

By then she had circled around fully, leaving her to kneel down beside Maarani until their heads were in line. "Chosen by what, or more precisely, whom? When Darth Lasidia told me of her journeys in shatterspace, under the tutorage of Ludo Kressh, she also spoke of a being inhabiting that realm. One that bore three markings on her face, and sought balance in the Force."

She stood back up to continue her pacing, always keeping attention on Maarani's state of mind. Waiting for the signs of contact with the Lady she needed to discover for her own use at last.

"And now, the originator of a prophecy made twenty thousand years ago has returned, and named her Chosen, as well as her mate. The Following seek to protect, the Fallen seek to destroy. And others still want all Sith who come into contact with you to be eliminated. All of them want to destabilize the achievement of a unified Sith Empire, thus I must oppose them all as a result."

Her hand went out, turning to brush the back of a finger down the curve of Maarani's left lekku. "You're caught in the middle. Work with me, help me stop these outside forces from interfering, and we might just be able to achieve peace, and free you from the influence of the Lady. It was dear Kiarna who freed you from the Lady of Sorrows after all, she may yet do so again."

For a moment, the whisperings grew louder. Trying to sway her thoughts.

"No. I know just how many have become murderous tyrants despite going to the dark side with good intent. I'm not falling for it, bitch."

Sloane extended her hand again, smiling more. The first real sign of another presence had begun. "You can't even use the Force, how do you believe you will go on to become a tyrant yourself if you help me wipe out these rogue groups? You've already done so much harm, why not atone for some of it?"

After struggling against the restraints one last time, Maarani closed her eyes. "Sith always lie. I wouldn't trust any Miraluka at this point, least of which one who doesn't know what clothes are."

Just like that, the presence vanished again, almost literally slipping through Sloane's fingers. Suggestion had failed for the time being.

Her hand retreated away, eventually gesturing to the door of her chamber, unlocking it for her departure.

"I'll make it simple for you then. You've made contact with the Lady of Balance through more direct means, and based on reports, you've also made contact with agents of the Following. Tell me either of those means, and I will consider relaxing the terms of your imprisonment, and possibly even let your Zeltron friend go. I don't need you to turn on the Republic and the Jedi, merely your cooperation in this matter."

She made her way over to the door in silent steps, stopping as it opened up to her. "Think about it. I am not unreasonable, there are other things I can arrange to come to a settlement. I might even be able to restore your connection to the Force myself. And, I wouldn't mind seeing my dear friend Yuthura again either."

As soon as she was gone, Maarani slammed her head down against the flat metal behind her head and burst into tears. Sooner or later, regardless of what was said, she was going to be invaded mentally. There was no recourse left to her, no way out.

Sloane held all the cards, and no amount of talk, or appearing deranged would change that.


	46. Dead Togruta Walking

For at least three hours, Sokoli had sat there in bed, reading through what Dr Xilubu had claimed to be her surviving records in the Jedi Archives. It had taken most of a day to explain that she was in fact a Jedi herself, that she was a Togruta from Shili's capital, and that she had spent the past thirty years in cryostasis out in the depths of empty space, primarily for her to actually make sense of all that.

Every need had been attended to by a droid, if not by the doctor himself. What worried her most were the occasional whispers of recent battle, and by contrast, the distinct lack of fellow patients. If things were as bad as some of those whispers implied, were there even any patients to be brought back in the first place?

"She is well enough to receive visitors, though she has yet to request or receive any."

"Then it seems I will be the first."

She continued to gaze over her datapad right up until a white haired woman approached the bedside. She looked up slowly, meeting the pair of blue eyes gazing at her, and the small smile that accompanied them.

"I apologize if you've been lonely these past days. There are very few Jedi from before the purge remaining. And of them, none knew you well. My condolences."

Sokoli stared at Brianna for a long while before finally blinking. "I wouldn't know any of them anyway, would I?" Her eyes drifted down to the pad once again, dragging two of her paste-white fingers across its surface. "I might as well have never woken up. From what I've learned, at least if I became one with the Force, I wouldn't have woken to a face, a name belonging to a life that is all but dead anyway."

That small smile fading, Brianna drew over a chair to sit on, resting her other hand on Sokoli's arm. "Dr Xilubu believed you were attempting to wake up, and thus we did everything in our power to give you time enough to do so. Again, I apologize for things not developing as any of us expected."

The sound of Sokoli's quiet breathing settled over, broken only by the droid as it made its rounds.

Her eyes passed over the pad once again. "This might as well be the profile of a complete stranger." It came to rest on an area of the bed beside her as she looked to Brianna once more. "Can I at least leave this room?"

"With assistance yes. I'll ask one of the padawans to stay on hand when possible, unless you would prefer the help of a droid."

"I suppose I won't be allowed to move on my own then?"

"Not until your muscles have recovered."

Dr Xilubu walked up with a pad of his own in hand, making some final entries before moving it under his arm. "You will have to visit one of the gyms and complete a set course each day. I've also prescribed your meals for the next few weeks. We'll be taking you off liquid nutrients, Togruta metabolism simply wasn't designed for anything other than meat as a core diet. Oddly enough, it seems you've also grown quite a bit taller based on what records we dug up. A little more than I'd expect from long term deep space travel, I'm still trying to determine the cause."

Sokoli reached up to rub the side of her left temple, grazing over the course surface of her matching montral. "You would know best…"

"At least someone acknowledges it around here. Master Pala left before I could even begin her nasal reconstruction."

Brianna touched his arm with mild concern. "Her reasons for departing were rather more urgent."

"And I don't mean to downplay the threat Katarr poses to us. I am simply…" He looked back to Sokoli, who was growing worried herself. "Trying to lighten the mood. There's enough to worry about in this age already."

"I see." Her hand fell away from Dr Xilubu's arm as she made her departure. "Padawan Sendis could use the a little more occupation of her time."

* * *

"Lana, I know you're peeking."

One of the girls at the back opened her eyes fully in shock, looking around until she noticed Koor had a smile on her face, despite her own eyes being clearly closed.

"Was not!"

"Shh. The point is to focus, and not be distracted."

A Nautolan child sniffed, and managed to hold off rubbing his nose for all of a second before giving in. From there, the fidgeting began to spread amongst the other children, until Koor opened her eyes with a soft sigh.

"Alright, everyone stand out, scratch those itches and get your fidgets out, we'll resume in a few minutes."

She stood up herself in a fluid motion, taking the opportunity to pull the clip from behind her head and retighten her strip of hair.

The tilt forward kept her from noticing Torbut's approach until the children greeted him in near chorus.

"Hello. Are we all behaving for Master Koor here?"

"Yes Master Torbut."

"Good to hear. Carry on then." He strode past to Koor's side, lightly touching her arm while she lifted her head back up from finishing her hairclip. "Doing well I hope?"

"Oh yes, they're getting used to sitting quietly by the day."

Torbut chuckled before stopping in stride, turning to her proper. "A fair answer."

It took a while longer for Koor to look back at him, looking a little unsettled. "Yes, I'm doing well. More than a little concerned that there's been no word from Maarani or the others, especially after that dark disturbance."

Crimson eyes narrowing, Torbut eventually nodded in agreement. "The others still feel we cannot leave while Katarr remains a threat, Master Brianna especially. The most we can do is trust that Master Lauran has matters in hand."

Koor took a look at the children, who by then had dispersed to places where they could sit and talk or play quietly. "Speaking frankly, I'm not sure what to think of Dana Lauran. The way she spoke to Master Pala was…" She chewed her lip, contemplating the best word to use. "Out of her usual character. I don't recall there being any rivalry between the two before-"

Torbut placed a reassuring hand on her arm, though it was more to affirm himself as he prepared to hide truths from her. "Master Lauran has a complex history with the Jedi Order, including with Masadar. Believe me, she will do what is best for Maarani. And she is the most qualified of us all to ensure that her empathic powers remain controlled. We need to trust in her judgement and her capability."

Reluctantly, Koor nodded, her usual confidence having waned considerably. Nothing seemed certain anymore. "Alright. I'll keep it from being a distraction." She looked over to the group again. "I should get back to the lesson. Would you mind coming down to the holocron vault later though?"

"I don't have any other immediate business at hand. But why?"

Koor looked back to him, her lips curling in a little. "Just yesterday I went there for some advice from the Jolee holocron, and I noticed some strange behaviour from the Sith holocrons. Both Atris and Brianna dismissed the concern, but I'm not satisfied."

Torbut released her arm at last with another small smile. "Alright. I'll wait near the Archives for you. I suppose it's possible they were 'excited' by the disturbance, we can have the vault secured further if needed."

"Thank you. I shouldn't be more than an hour, provided the children are settled now."

After watching her return to the small gathering, he reached up to his perpetually smooth chin to hum in thought.

"It wouldn't hurt to try contacting her again anyway…"

And with that, he left in the direction of the nearest comm terminal.

* * *

Every step brought with it a sense of pain that made Sokoli wince. The braces attached to her leg were still cold, despite being on for several minutes by that stage. Her arms were a little less distraught, still bearing enough muscle strength to keep hold of her crutches as she slowly made her way across the Temple.

It was rather unsettling for Carmen to see a woman so crippled, especially a Togruta of all races. Those amongst her fellow padawans were all very well built to an impressive degree. Sokoli's deteriorated condition was as far from that as seemed possible.

"Are you sure about this?"

Sokoli slowly turned her head, nearly glaring down at the young Mirialan. "I have to try."

"It's just… Master Atris says she's been forgetting old memories since the heart attack. It'd be terrible to get there yourself only for nothing."

"It won't be for nothing."

Carmen remained silent after that. At first, she had been quite happy to be of assistance as an aside from her final days as a padawan before knighthood. The reality of having to walk Sokoli around the temple grounds had become a harsh reminder of what offering help entailed.

The doorway into the archive halls was a truly welcome sight when they finally got there. Surprisingly, Atris herself was alone for once, from the look of it using the time to sort through a small pile of datachips laid out on the table before her.

"Master Atris? Is this a bad time? She wanted to speak with you."

Atris slowly looked up from her work, gasping at the sight of the frail, yet towering Togruta that made Carmen look tiny by comparison. Her softly quaking hand went for her cane, gripping onto it firmly and making a gentle clack as she stepped forward.

"Have we met?"

Sokoli stared right at the old woman approaching her. An odd feeling was beginning to stir at the back of her mind. She had to know if Atris recognized her, but now, she wasn't entirely sure who she was supposed to be recognized as.

She awkwardly shuffled over to a free seat and sat down with a wince. "Master Brianna tells me you are the last of the old Council left. I am supposed to be Sokoli Zatu, though I still have no memory of being her. I thought…"

The stare from Atris persisted for a full minute before she sighed, retreating to a chair of her own. "I am sorry, if we knew each other at some point, that memory is now gone. All I have is a vague feeling of recognition when I look at you, nothing more."

For reasons that escaped her, Sokoli felt a twinge of a smile at the corner of her lips.

Carmen bit down onto her lip, feeling very awkward now that her concern had proven valid. "Sorry again, Master Atris. I'd offer to help, but I have to stay with Sokoli for now."

Atris waved the matter off with a weak smile. "I understand. The weak-before-their-time have priority after all. And I certainly-"

She clutched at her chest as a pain swelled up, the monitor beeping again. It was gone by the time Carmen had rushed to her aid, but by then she was already caught in a wheeze.

"Master Atris! What's wrong? Should I get Dr Xilubu?"

"No… no."

After a few more breaths, Atris' breathing settled into a more regular pattern. While her eyes had blurred a little, she could still see the unfazed expression of Sokoli as she remained there.

"I just felt a moment's pain, nothing more. It's to be expected…"

* * *

Time had lost meaning for Shamara and her sisters a long while ago. They had a singular duty to perform as the last true orders from Atris herself, and they would see it done until word of her passing came.

And yet, it was hard to not take notice that Kayla had been on her trip to the surface for food and water longer than was usual.

"Toralla, has Kayla made contact at all?"

"Not that I am aware of."

Shamara frowned while humming in thought. "I had better go check. Prepare the vault for-"

The door to their deep bunker opened at that moment, Kayla looking back over her shoulder as she stepped through.

"I thought I saw a ship approaching and hid. I think it best we-"

Before she could explain more, a cold chill blew into the bunker. Shamara and Toralla had little time to react in the mere moments that followed, as a near invisible blade swiped through the air at incredible speed, cutting Kayla to pieces.

"To arms! Seal the vault!"

Both Shamara and Toralla bolted for the hallway leading deeper in. By the time the former got to the other end, the latter had been sliced clean in half, whimpering a last cry before dying of the catastrophic wound. And still no sign of their attacker.

Ditara and Hala rushed into the room to Shamara's defence as she continued on, looking to seal the vault before she met her seemingly inevitable end. The sight of Ditara's severed head smacking the wall to her direct right made her jump in shock, before a vibroblade sang through the air, pinning her to the wall through her chest.

"I learned that trick from my father. He used it to impale a Zygerrian brute to the wall of his office if his story is to be believed. Shame he's long dead now."

Shamara reached for the control panel in desperation, her face planted where she could only barely see the keypad itself. A red lightsaber took her hand clean off before she could touch a single button, making her cry out in pain.

"Sorry, I'll be needing those holocrons. I've got some lekku to track down after all."

The vibroblade twisted, and in a smooth motion, sliced through Shamara's chest and head, ending the life of the last full Echani handmaiden to the great delight of Masaka.

"Oh, it feels so good to be half alive again."

After wiping the vibroblade clean on Shamara's bloodied robes, she stepped into the vault itself, where a chorus of Sith holocrons growled in greeting.

"Good, you're all still active, and more importantly talkative. It appears I'm in need of some new lessons, care to oblige a poor little Twi'lek girl?"


	47. Empty Hand

"What are you doing?"

For the most part, Izan had been left alone in his cell. A small medical droid had come by under guard to tend to his wounds, and then left without a word. Hours had passed before Maarani was dragged back through and shoved into her cell, at which point she had gone to hide in one of the corners, and he had grown bored enough to attempt sleep.

He had no idea of how much time had passed, only that Maarani had left the corner to sit in the middle of her cell facing away from him. After looking from a few different angles, he finally came to notice she was in a meditative position, prompting his question at last.

"I'm going to mind trick one of the guards into opening the cell and dropping his weapon. It's not like you need years of training to do that."

Izan shook his head, making back for the bed. "Wake me when you've actually got something of worth to say."

"Fine, I'll say something you actually need to hear."

Maarani worked her legs out of the meditative pose, gripping onto the edge of the bunk for support as she moved to stand, tugging on some hems and straightening out her lekku before turning around. She looked Izan right in the eye, trying very hard to keep her lip from quivering.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For leading you on, for hitting you, for being abusive, for being dismissive, for being such an ungrateful little wretch. I am sorry for all of that, and I'm sorry that I couldn't get us both out of this mess. It might have been boring on Citadel Station, but at least if I hadn't walked into that cantina on a nostalgic whim, you wouldn't have had the utter displeasure of having met me."

For once, Izan had no doubts about Maarani's intent. It sounded like a genuine apology, and felt like one. And from the clear impact it was having on her below the surface, something he could already feel despite her efforts to conceal it all, there was no possible way to dismiss the intensity behind it.

"I'm sorry too. Whenever there was a problem, I shrugged it off and let the Jedi handle it. And when it was my problem, I left you alone, and you got a broken leg for it. You've done some awful things, but I never accept an apology without cleaning my own slate."

Eyes watering, Maarani nodded, trying so very hard to keep from crying. "You don't owe me that Izan. You don't owe me anything. Please, remember that. I'm so sorry."

The doors of the cell block slid open at that moment.

Izan craned his neck around to try and get a glimpse, without success, before stepping back. Her earlier words were beginning to resonate back.

 _I couldn't get us both out of this mess._

"You bitch! You're just making yourself feel better after screwing me over!"

"Please, don't try to fight back."

Sloane and her four guards walked into view, another two right following some distance behind, escorting a woman in a black officer's uniform.

"Open the cell."

The rightmost guard opened up the field to Izan's cell, leaving a deliberate space open between him and Maarani. Enough for him to see her rubbing her eyes clean as she tried to tackle with her overflowing emotional state.

"Whatever deal she made, I-"

The officer moved up to the cell and turned directly to Izan. She was carrying the clothes he had been wearing at the time of their capture, all cleaned, ironed, and even folded.

Sloane smiled. "I'd think twice about backing out when you've just been handed freedom, Zeltron. Dearest Tegama will explain."

The shock of the reversal left Izan speechless, only able to watch with jaw agape as Maarani sucked in a harsh breath.

"I'm staying here Izan. Sloane is going to give me the answers I've wanted, going back eight years at least, in return for all I know about the Lady of Balance. The _Distant Star_ , Cecile, everything in it is yours now. When you go back for Dana and Jayden, tell them not to come for me. Sloane's moving the vessel to uncharted space to avoid being followed, you'll never find me again. Just…"

She stopped to choke back an outbreak of sobbing.

"Make them go back to Coruscant, to Mandalore, wherever. I'm not worth trying to rescue."

Izan continued to stare for a long while, almost choking up himself in disbelief. "You can't be serious. Look me in the eye and tell me that you're not-"

He looked up at Sloane, who smiled more, the veil across her eyeless face glittering more for it.

"No mind trickery at work here. She proposed this deal herself." She tilted her head to one of the guards before turning back to Izan. "Bring the droid. I suggest you get dressed now, you'll want to ensure everything is as it was on the ship before you leave after all."

After awkwardly taking hold of his clothes, he shuffled into the small cover provided to begin putting them on, trying to save what little decency was left. It all seemed so unbelievably good natured for a Sith especially to do. But, she also clearly had a large stake in what Maarani had to offer, and that was both a saving grace and a fact that made him fear for her safety all the more.

"And now…" Sloane motioned for the guards and officer to give Izan a bit more privacy, lightly turning on the ball of one foot with practised grace to look at Maarani. "Provided your cooperation continues, I'm willing to make some allowances until I'm ready to release you back to Republic space, if you still decide not to join us when that time comes."

Maarani remained cold in expression. "Kiarna will kill me before then. Unless you think you can protect me from her, I wouldn't count on anything."

At that, Sloane smiled, before breaking into a full laugh. "Nice try. I'm not about to divulge any secrets."

The doors opened to two more guards, Cecile trudging along between them. When they moved away to either side, she moved a little more quickly to Cecile's cell.

"My deepest apologies Mistress, I do hope you have been treated well."

"Oh yeah, just a few punches to the gut, the head, and other places…"

Cecile's eyes flickered. After a cautionary glance at the guards, she looked right up to Sloane. "I have behaved just as any respectable droid would, and I am quite sure the Mistress will behave as well as any Twi'lek woman possibly can, however difficult that is for her."

Maarani aimed a death glare right at the droid. "Call me a slut and I'll…"

"That's up to her. I do find the idea of a droid showing concern and contempt for her Mistress at the same time to be quite amusing. You must have known her a long while."

"I have been in her service for a few months."

"Oh? Well, that's good to hear…"

Izan emerged from his cell at that moment, now fully dressed again, and looking a lot better for it. "You at least going to give her a beacon I can track when you do drop her off in however many weeks? Or am I gonna have to search?"

"We'll find a neutral ship to take her back to a suitable world." Sloane stepped back, nodding to the various guards to clear the way. "Now, I suggest you return to your vessel and do your check over. You don't want to keep us waiting."

"No, I don't." Izan made one last look at Maarani before starting to make his way to the exit. It still felt worryingly easy. At the doorway itself, he stopped and looked back to Cecile, who was following behind a little slower. "Come, we don't want any trouble."

"Yes, I was about to say…" Right as Cecile reached the two guards, Sloane nodded to them, causing both to rush in and grab all four of her arms forcibly.

Izan quickly turned around, ready to argue, but Maarani got there first.

"What are you doing!? We had a deal!"

"I'm sorry, do you really think I'm so stupid that I didn't notice you had ordered your droid to make a recording of her movements, thereby mapping out the entire ship?" Sloane turned back again, her smile breaking into a wicked grin. "It's a shame, you almost got away with that little diversion, making it seem as if you actually despised her, only for her to provide the key for a little rescue mission down the line. Sorry, but I won't be taking that chance."

Despite the searing pain it caused, Maarani slammed both fists against the cell field. "Cecile! Cecile!"

"Wipe the droid's memory, thoroughly. Perhaps a waste of a well developed personality, but I won't take the chance."

"Cecile! Cecile I'm sorry!"

Izan was shoved out of the way by the guards as they dragged Cecile past in the direction of the droid workshop, another pair of guards moving in to ensure he didn't try anything.

The officer soon departed after, leaving Sloane and her four personal guards standing outside Maarani's cell while she broke down in tears.

"And now we see the real relation between an owner and her droid. You have only yourself to blame Tegama. Your final words to her before falling unconscious should have been orders for her to remain complacent, not to try spying on your captors."

Once she was on the floor in a sobbing heap, Sloane motioned for the guards to follow her back out. "Have Night and Bitter bring her to the chamber when she's stopped crying. And inform Lord Rak'Sakar that my plan for interrogation is going smoothly, that I am releasing a Zeltron for lack of use, and that my scrying has yet to determine the outcome of the impending battle on Katarr. But I will inform him the moment an answer is clear."

"Yes my Lady."

* * *

It was a very strange experience moving amongst junior Imperial officers, as well as technicians, a few mechanics, and the quartermaster at one point. None paid him more heed than they had to.

The weapons were all presented to his viewing, and then sealed in a time locked box that was put on the ship so that he would be long gone before having access to them. All of the food, medical and repair supplies that they had gathered up over the past few months had been left alone. Even some of the more messy junk piles that had been there since he first set foot on the _Distant Star_ back at Telos had been organized out properly, presumably thanks to a particularly compulsive private looking for something to keep busy with.

The only weapon not returned was Maarani's lightsaber, a given expectation in the end. If there were any who had particularly demeaning views of him because he was coloured bright pink instead of a more typical skin colour, they kept it to themselves.

He was left standing by the boarding ramp when Cecile finally showed up, escorted by a deep red-headed woman who looked a little too pretty for the black uniform that seemed to match the tone of her perpetually bothered expression. Cecile herself was sickeningly blank. Her usual swagger of walking, holding her arms as if she always had a haughty opinion to give, all gone.

"Couldn't just settle for a two day history wipe, could you? Just had to go and take away every scrap of her!"

The officer glared back at him, nearly shoving the droid right into his arms. "It's a droid. Get over it pinkskin."

Izan glared back, not taking it lying down for once, something he didn't realize was attributed to Maarani's confrontational attitude. "She was a friend. I bet you shot all yours getting to where you're at."

"Captain Caura." Another officer strode over, glancing between Izan and Caura. "Is there a problem? None of us want this to take longer than it has to."

Caura glared at Izan, who glared back.

"No sir, just returning the droid to the ship."

"Good. You don't want to leave Zeltrons in a bad mood. They tend to mouth off to others of their kind, and that would hardly make future shore leave easier for you, now would it?"

That time, Izan took the slight against him with a little more dignity, even if it did strike him as an odd realization that Imperials probably did get vacations as well.

"Oh yes, I'll be calling all my friends in the next few sectors, telling them about this charming looking Imperial woman." He chewed his tongue to keep from following up with another slur, instead directing his efforts towards guiding the soulless Cecile onto the ship.

As soon as Caura had left, not even trying to hide the look of murder on her face, Merik scoffed a little, taking a step closer to Izan. "She's a human Wookiee you know, born to a Republic ambassador right in the trees of Kashyyyk."

Izan didn't acknowledge his continued presence with much more than a slight hesitation.

That didn't faze Merik. "For what its worth, it's a shame you got led on by that Republic pilot. Zeltron youth aside, you're quite the looker."

It took all of a few seconds for Izan to notice his hand was growing pale from how firmly it was gripping the ramp strut. Of all times and places, now was when he was actually being hit on, and by yet another Imperial officer who seemed a little too happy with his position, a little too out of place.

"She never led me on. Even when she was going at me, I could tell."

He released the strut to make his way up at last, closing the ramp behind him.

Without Maarani, Dana or Jayden on board, it felt truly desolate. He was quite literally the only living being left. And unlike the Citadel Station Cantina, being alone now was truly being alone.

"CC-13, might as well wait in the cockpit with me. Nothing needs repairing.

"Order acknowledged, reporting to _Distant Star_ cockpit."

After one last tour of the ship, he made his way there as well, settling into the pilot's seat and going through the pre-launch procedure.

When it was done, he sighed to himself, took another look at Cecile's empty demeanour, then switched to comms.

"Distant Star ready to launch on permission. And please, treat Maarani well."

" _Permission granted. Not my place to say, but she could be in worse hands._ "

He shut off his side of the transmission to ensure he wasn't overheard. "Yeah, she could be in the hands of a woman who isn't fifty years old, wearing tassels, and actually has something she finds remotely attractive. Never hear from her again."

Cecile's eyes flickered, though he was too busy keeping an eye on the controls as he brought the ship to a hover above the deck

" _Low throttle until you have cleared the ship. Power dampeners are at the ready if you try anything._ "

"Not to worry, I've had three days of flight practise."

The deck itself opened up beneath the ship, sending an all-clear signal once it was safe to begin the descent.

All so routine, and yet the only thing that kept him from defining the people he was now so casually talking with as the enemy was the fact that he had never actually declared loyalty to the Republic. Zeltros, while technically part of the Republic, was considered neutral ground for the sake of maintaining some semblance of leisure for all sides. Czerka, now a lot less prone to illegal activities, was considered a properly neutral organization.

For all of Maarani's insistence on making that sacrifice for his behalf, for all the grief, pain and other ugly messes she had caused him, he still felt guilty for leaving her behind in the hands of her enemies.

Their enemies.

"Distant Star _is clear of the vessel, travel on pre-assigned heading for two thousand kilometres. Do not attempt any scans or hypervector triangulation, or we will open fire._ "

He didn't even bother with a verbal acknowledgement, bringing the ship around to that heading and setting off, no longer having to look at the destroyer, and remind himself of the guilt.

"Just my luck. The only man on a ship with three women. One of them is a raging lesbian in so many meanings of the word, another is a cold hearted asexual mind construct thing with weird parental desires, and the third is a giant Mandalorian with a husband. And then there's the droid with metal tits, and nothing left of a personality."

Cecile's eyes flickered again.

He reclined down into his seat, leaving the ship to run its course. "Is this the Force toying with me again? I complain about being the only man, and then it takes away all the women and the female personality so that I can be the only man and not feel out of place for it? What have I even done to upset the Force like that? I'm not doubting it exists, I'm not cracking jokes about magical hand waving."

A sigh came as the sensors alerted that the Imperial destroyer had just gone to hyperspace. He glanced back at the droid briefly before returning to his idle musing, conveniently not noticing as she began to convulse quietly.

"You can't even appreciate a word I'm saying. You're just an empty shell waiting for new programming, and a few decades at least to develop a personality again. There's no telling what kind of droid you'll end up becoming now. Could actually turn out polite, or not like playing cards at all and leave me bored stiff. Hell, could end up developing a masculine personality this time instead, that'd be something."

Another, longer flicker overtook Cecile's eyes.

"Oh right, that wouldn't last long. You'd probably end up having the droid equivalent of a mental breakdown because you're in a female-shaped body. And since droids don't get self-determination rights, and I can't afford to buy a new droid body for your new male persona to get shoved into, they'd just wipe you for me to start over with again."

By then, he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice her placing her lower hands on her hips, while the upper arms folded across her chest.

"What the hell am I even saying? Droids don't have genders, they can't have identification issues! Not five minutes into this solo voyage and I'm going nuts! Soon I'll be ranting how everything is racist and offensive, while being equally racist and offensive myself to other people, and then I'll start drinking again, and because I've picked up so much from Maarani I'll turn suicidal as well. And then you'll be left here as a blank droid in the middle of nowhere-"

"Could the Pinkskin kindly consider shutting his trap?"

Izan blinked. He continued staring out at the starry void for a very long time before slowly turning around, only to sigh in realization.

"Caura called me pinkskin. Look, CC-13, the name's Izan, not Pinkskin. It was bothersome enough being called that before, but I'm not going to let it continue when-"

"What exactly has changed? You are still a depressing drunk, the Mistress is still in distress, and until the Jedi return to the ship I am clearly the most capable crewmember."

Izan blinked again. "Cecile?"

"Yes?"

He thought about it again, then slowly stood up, clenching his fingers in and out a few times before looking right at the droid. "First question, and a very important one, what the hell is going on?"

"We are on a course towards nowhere at approximately-"

"Cecile, you know what I mean!"

"Droids do not have the capability to read organic minds, not yet anyway, so I do not in fact know what you mean."

"I mean-"

The proximity alarm blared out, drawing his attention right back to the controls before he could clarify. From seemingly out of nowhere came a full squadron of heavy attack fighters. A quick look over the scanners brought up no matches in the ship's computer.

"Great! Just great! Now we're being raided by pirates!"

The intercom began to pick up a slightly garbled signal.

" _No Twi'lek lifesigns detected... Do we make contact?_ "

" _Give it a minute. She might have a discreet jammer in place._ "

Izan went deathly cold, leaning forward in the seat and twisting his head up to get a look at one of the fighters. Completely unmarked, it was a very dark green, and had three 'wings' that bore several armaments. Too advanced for standard pirates.

" _Still reading nothing. No high power signals either. Must've jumped ship._ "

" _Or she was jettisoned. Continue the search, we'll find her._ "

Just as abruptly as they had appeared, the squadron formed back up and made a swift departure, leaving Izan trying to recover from the near heart attack at how closely he had avoided death.

"How the hell did the Hidden Hand find us out here?"

"Is that the clarification to the earlier question Pinkskin?"

"No! No no no! What I want to know is-"

Another arrival from hyperspace distracted him yet again. The timing of it worried him greatly, any follow up to a Hidden Hand appearance had to be bad news.

"Cecile, just get ready for a hyperspace jump. We need to go get Dana and Jayden quickly before they-"

The intercom crackled again.

" _Teegs! Teegs don't leave!_ "

His hand leapt to the transmitter that time. "Dana! Dana! How are you even-"

" _Hidden Hand scanned us, didn't think twice about helping, then moved on. We realized what they were looking for and followed them here. Listen, Izan, where's Teegs?_ "

Izan looked back at Cecile, who shrugged in her own way. "The Sith have her. Dana, I'm sorry."

There was a brief silence on the other end, though while listening closer he could hear her talking with Jayden. Both of them sounded short of breath. " _How did you get away then?_ "

"She…" He chewed his tongue. "Maarani gave herself up to Sloane, the sorcerer running the ship. Look I can explain more, but what I'm seeing on sensors says that ship is a real bucket of junk, and I don't want to imagine how much air you've got left. And how am I going to even dock with it without fracturing the hull?"

" _We've thought of that. Bring the ship to a complete standstill, no rotational forces at all. Is Cecile with you?_ "

He looked back again, still pondering that question. "Yeah, they let her go as well."

" _Cecile, we need you to stand on the outer hull beside the airlock, but don't block the way. This ship doesn't have an airlock, only the one hatch. There's no going one at a time or getting spacesuits on first._ "

"Freespace jumping? Are you serious? You've got cloth robes last I noticed!"

" _Now is exactly the time where 'the Force will protect us' comes into play. Just be ready at the airlock so you can close it behind us. Got that?_ "

"Yes, alright, I got it." He decelerated the ship until it reached a standstill, timidly firing the thrusters until it had achieved full motionlessness. There he waited while Cecile made her way out the airlock, keeping an eye on the sensors until the other ship had come up alongside. It was dwarfed considerably by the Distant Star, looking as if even a slight nudge would cause irreparable damage, and worse to those inside.

" _Alright, we're in position and waiting._ "

"I'm coming now. Give it fifteen and blow the hatch, I'll be ready."

He was gone from his chair as soon as that was said, quietly counting under his breath while he sprinted from the cockpit through the corridors to the airlock, with just under ten seconds seconds left. Through the small window, he could see the hatch of the other ship, and Cecile's arms stretched out in readiness to catch the pair when it opened up.

"Three, two, one."

He winced when the hatch opened up at last, watching the air silently rush out of the vessel, pushing it away as Dana and Jayden leapt for the open airlock, arms wrapped tightly around each other to minimize the space they took up.

Every second was tense as they drifted closer and closer. He began counting upward, waiting for the moment that they landed in the airlock, his finger twitching over the controls.

Cecile caught hold of Dana's robes and used that grip to push her down. When he heard the thud of Mandalorian armor against metal, he shoved his finger right into the button, gritting his teeth hard.

Never was there a more relieving sound than the airlock pressurizing, and the inner door opening to the two as they gasped for air at last.

"Hey, breathe easy."

Dana was already red in the face, weakly untangling herself from Jayden while she clutched at her quivering fingers. It took a bit longer for Jayden herself to get her helmet off, also looking red from forcibly hyperventilating back on the other ship.

"Alright. Dana, I'll carry you to the medlab, and come back with another oxygen mask. Hang tight Jayden."

After awkwardly pulling them free of the airlock, Izan hoisted Dana up into his arms and began the awkward sideways shuffle through the corridor directly across the ship to the port side. Once she was lying on the single bed, breathing easier with the mask on, he rushed back to Jayden with hers. Cecile had returned inside by then, and was helping her to sit upright.

"Just relax, we'll all talk later. I got this under control."

Jayden's face had puffed up so much that she could barely see him by then, but she heard enough to weakly nod.

"Thank you, Izan."

"We'll find her. Somehow."

* * *

When Maarani looked up, two men were standing outside her cell. The black tattooing on their faces made it rather obvious they were Sith, which didn't bode well for her at all.

"Get up. Sloane's ready for you."

After the bitterness of losing Cecile, Maarani was feeling ready to be defiant until the end, bringing out her finger yet again.

Bitter clenched his teeth, starting to reach for his lightsaber. "Do that again and you lose the finger. Get. Up."

Before the tension grew worse, Night waved his hand at the controls, and then at Maarani, forcing her to stand in an unnatural way that made her wince at how contorted her muscles felt.

She still remained defiant.

"Go ahead, mutilate me. I'm not taking orders."

Night looked to Bitter, then back to her. "Mutilation isn't the way to get to you, is it? Perhaps we should tell Sloane we're taking a bit of time to persuade you…"

That made her glare back darkly, and with a growing fear. The tone in which he said that was very sinister, not just the typical dark threat of a Sith apprentice of pain and torment. There were emotions restrained behind it, most notably the way they both looked at her. Eyeing her up.

With that threat in mind, she clenched both hands and stepped out of the cell obediently. Night seemed to be satisfied at her co-operation, and much to her disgust, Bitter a little disappointed. At least she knew which of the two was technically more trustworthy.

Her hands remained clenched on the walk through the ship to the chamber. There was something more humiliating about it now that she was actually wide awake during, noticing every single head turn and glance from the officers and troopers they passed by alike. All human. The only time she even noticed non-humans was amongst the few Sith novices they passed; they at least ignored her altogether.

Disturbing as it was, the sight of the door to Sloane's chamber brought its own kind of relief, as it meant being free from Bitter's presence. Discreetly observing how the pair interacted with others of the crew told her enough. True to his name, and reinforcing her earlier assumption, Bitter was rather unlikeable compared Night, who on quite a few occasions had a smile for those they passed. And yet that also brought the sinking realization that Night was merely the more manipulative one, and her hopes of finding reason amongst Sloane's underlings were sorely misplaced.

As soon as the door was open, she stepped through, trying to appear reluctant still.

"Done shedding tears for circuitry and sheet metal? You should be more considerate of others as a projective empath."

Her fist remained tightly clenched as Sloane approached, looking just the same as she always did.

"Better to not get overly attached to anything, you're just going to keep crying about every new loss if you do."

When she drew closer still, Maarani clenched her teeth, remaining very quiet.

"Fine, if you're not going to speak, I suggest you make your way over to-"

In a flash, her fist rocketed up, striking Sloane right in the left jaw. While she recoiled from the momentary shock, Maarani grabbed for the left spiralling horn of her headdress, planning to yank it away so she could attack more of her face in the seething rage taking over once again.

As soon as it came off, the veil included, she was instead left stunned herself.

Rather than the expected stretches of flat skin covering the eye sockets, two perfectly normal looking eyes were fixated ahead. The irises were a touch grey, enough to make them out from the near veinless whites, but they were far from the ugly blank look she had heard described about atrophied eyes.

The surprise was more than enough time for Sloane to recover, practically launching Maarani overhead and slamming her onto the table, a sharp flick of her fingers bringing out the restraints, and tightening down further.

"And here I was trying to be a little more considerate!"

A spray of lightning leapt from her fingertips, surging right into the table to shock Maarani throughout her entire body while she screamed.

"You could have simply asked to look beneath the veil! Were you just curious? Or did you intend to mock me over a congenital defect!"

She fired another spray of lightning. Her creepily amused demeanour was entirely gone by then, replaced by her own form of cold rage, completely unfazed by the writhing and the wailing that Maarani was going through.

"Apologize and this stops!"

Through the agonizing pain, Maarani coughed back enough of the saliva buildup to swear at Sloane, earning another shock.

"I can keep this up for far longer than you can endure! I can keep your mind from letting your body fall unconscious! I can restart your bleeding heart when it gives out from the pain! Apologize!"

"No!"

"This stops when you apologize! Remember that!"

Outside in the hall, Night and Bitter remained in guarding positions either side of the door. The yelp from Sloane had caused them to turn towards it at first, ready to move to her aid, but the sounds of Maarani's screams shortly after reassured both that all was in hand.

"Mother dearest doesn't like it when we do that with the prisoners you know."

Night smirked. "It's called a bluff, Bitter. Just the threat is enough with her type. They really don't want anything to do with us."

"Since when have any of our prisoners taken an interest in Sith?"

"Psh, you're thicker than usual if you haven't figured her yet."

"Yeah yeah, you're the smart one around. Done reminding everyone of it for the day?"

Sloane's shouting grew louder still, followed by another crackle of lightning. This time, it was followed by another bout of sobbing instead of screaming.

"And she's broken. I don't think she'll try putting up a fight any more."

"Oh yes, because you prefer they just give in when there's no fight left anyway."

"It makes things cleaner." Night scoffed again as an amusing thought came to mind. "Hey, did you hear? Some dumb schluck walked right into a hazardous materials storage room, looks like he'll lose limbs for it. Someone tore off the warning label left on the door. Idiots didn't think to lock it as well."

"Why do they even use sheet labels attached to doors? What happened to holo-screens?"

"Would you want to be stumbling about in a power outage and not have a physical warning on the door?"

For once, Bitter accepted the point made without question. It left a pause in the conversation that let Sloane's softer, but still threatening voice through again.

"She could at least let us have a go at extracting information. We know how to be restrained."

"You know mother dearest, Bitter. She-"

They both quietly stood up a little straighter when Major Karren strode up the hall with some of her company of troopers in stride behind. She glanced at the door, then to both Sith with a discerning gaze.

"Is there a reason the two of you are here? Or are you merely done harassing my female troopers for the day?"

Night's smirk returned ever so slightly when he glanced at Bitter. "We felt like staying closer with mother this time while she works over the Twi'lek rat."

Karren took a sharp breath. "Consider watching your tone, Sith. Neither of you are Lady Sloane's blood; she will only tolerate so much in the end. I'll keep reminding you both of that fact until it sets in."

While she returned to the march, some of her troopers turned to glare at the pair of Sith on their way past, a few even tightening the grip on their blasters.

Both relaxed once the company was gone, Bitter taking the opportunity to scoff.

"'Consider watching your tone.' How dare she talk to you like that."

"Thank Darth Lasidia for punishing the discipline of mundanes with extreme prejudice. The amount of times I would have liked to wring Lise's neck, even just a little…"

"How's Darth Lasidia going to find out? She's still not back with the fleet."

"Mother will find out. She always does after all."

* * *

"So, you got the ship's access codes in addition to mapping out a fair portion of it, and you don't have a clue how?"

Cecile gave another little shrug while downloading the last of her recordings into the projector table. "I underwent standard diagnostics, part of which included a computer analysis, and only realized that data had been downloaded after the link was severed. I highly doubt the computer itself gave me such information, but I have no other explanation."

It only left Izan confused as ever. To save himself the further headache, he left the droid at the table and instead made his way over to Dana, who was still attending to an infected gash on her foot with some difficulty.

"I'm not getting anything out of Cecile, anything else I can do to help?"

Dana winced as she cleaned enough out to apply the kolto patch, the cold gel stinging on prolonged contact. "Nothing comes to mind." Once the pain had subsided enough, she carefully secured the patch down, keeping her foot resting over her knee in the meantime. "To think, two days of trudging through mud and muck, and it's right before we leave that wretched planet that I cut my foot open on a stick."

Izan did his best to smile along with her, though it still left him feeling gutted inside. Rescuing them had been far easier than expected, and that only made the concept of rescuing Maarani feel much harder by comparison, if at all possible.

And he still couldn't get the question out of his mind.

"Look, I'm no droid expert, but childcare models don't just have wipe-proof backups of their memory core and programming. Did Maarani mention anything?"

Dana gave a bemused smile and accompanying shrug. "Back on Coruscant when I first met up with her, we found Cecile in the company of a Khramboan, that was while we were scouring grey market shipyards for something suitable and untraceable. Anyway, Cecile had this big clamp on her head that apparently kept her programming and memory core locked down. Guess she was modified at some point, and they couldn't be bothered undoing it permanently so went for the clamp instead."

"Modified? Dana, if they didn't want her getting wiped, why wouldn't they just avoid having her wiped. That makes no sense…"

He looked over at Cecile again, who was still fully occupied with her holographic reconstruction of the ship. It was a day of realizations it seemed.

"Oh, it wasn't the host family that modified her. But that means..."

His head whipped back to Dana out of growing fear, only to see she was content as ever, if not outright unfazed.

"Maarani mentioned that some of the parts Carmen found in her were sixty years out of date. Whatever she was back then, she just saved both you and Maarani by taking the initiative. I'd say that's all you need to know about her loyalties, so what's there to worry about?"

Jayden's arrival in the common room at last brought that line of conversation to a halt. The chance to clean up had lifted her spirits considerably.

"Alright, assuming I don't keel over and start emptying my stomach repeatedly because of that planet's water, do we have a plan yet?"

Both Izan and Dana got up to approach the table, the latter keeping her foot up and hopping over in what would be a comical way if Jayden wasn't suddenly feeling so self-conscious about her artificial leg for it.

With a glance to the others, Izan decided to take the lead. "As far as I see it, we've got three main obstacles; the gun arrays, the energy dampeners, and the landing bay doors. That's just for getting on board at all, there are a lot of troopers and several Sith on board."

He gestured to points on the hologram for vague examples of his point. "We can't get back in through the lower bay. If we blast our way through, there'll be nothing to land on, and they certainly won't close it for us, so it'll have to be a side bay."

Jayden hummed in thought, looking over it herself a little while, then pointed to some of the sections right along the edge. "Here, there are smaller bays in these sections. Each ship has certain corridors locked down in different patterns from the others, made rescuing Omena difficult when we didn't have the plans for that exact ship, but the landing bays have always been in the same spot. They don't typically close them unless there's a reason to, because of how long it takes to open them back up. We can just blast or force our way back out once we're in the door."

"Fine, but that's still the last problem to get past. Even with the access codes Cecile somehow sliced from the computer, how do we put them to use before they hit us with the dampening field and finish with blaster cannons?"

Dana leaned her weight onto the table while getting a look at it herself. The mapping was definitely incomplete, but it was still far more extensive than she had expected Cecile to be able to cover discreetly. At the very least, they could memorize most of the corridors and labelled rooms, and guess their way through the rest. While looking it over, she was simultaneously thinking over the other problem, and soon reached a conclusion of her own.

"Many of the Imperial communication codes are deeply encrypted, but we might just be able to sneak a shutdown command through if we use one that the Jedi have cracked. Jayden, I think you'd have a better time convincing them, especially if you make it clear what the stakes are. They'll change it when we're gone after all."

"Maybe. We'd still have to get inside before they override the shutdown, and they'd pick us up on sensors well before. And there's also the issue of not knowing where the ship is now."

Cecile mimicked the sound of clearing a throat at that, getting the attention of the other three.

"While there, I removed a sign for hazardous materials storage."

All three sighed a little, Izan in particular failing to see the point. "And? How does that help us?"

Cecile's eyes flickered. "Sooner or later, someone will have an accident in there."

Jayden looked to Dana, who looked to Izan, who looked to Jayden. All were starting to come to the same idea.

"We scan for a departing shuttle, get on board for the navigation log and disable the long range comms, send them on their way and go back for the main ship before they leave. Might even get a clearance code while we're at it, make up some story about raiders while transmitting the shutdown command, and barrel in before they know what hit us."

Dana nodded, a full smile staring to form at last. "We'll still need the code from the Jedi temple, it'd take too long to decipher the one on the shuttle. But, assuming all off that works, we brute force our way through, blow the dampening field generator, break Maarani out and avoid as much weapons fire as we can on the escape. They'll have a harder time hitting a target moving away instead of towards them."

They all looked at each other again until Izan exhaled in a bit of a bewildered way.

"It's an absurd plan, relies so heavily on things working exactly how we need them to. What was it you said about 'the Force will protect us'? I think we're going to need every big of guidance and luck it has to spare on this one."

"We're doing this for Teegs, our friend. She's done a lot of crazy, questionable, and outright horrible things, but she's also done her best to make up for those things, and do right by so many others as well. I think that's reason enough to count on the Force protecting us on this endeavour."

Jayden tilted her head before nodding in agreement. "I wouldn't mind having a few extra Jedi, or a company of Mandalorians, but the heroes of old didn't have armies at their backs when one of them was in danger."

That made Izan pause. "My Jedi history isn't that strong, but didn't that end with Bastila getting turned to the dark side? What if…"

Dana reached across to him as best she could, moving to a reassuring expression. "Sloane won't break her that quickly. The Night's Bitterkiss cult was formed by Revan from Sith acolytes, all the techniques he used and passed on were meant to work on vulnerable, unhardened minds. I think it's safe to say Teegs is a lot stronger than that. We'll break her out well before then I'm sure." She glanced down at the projection again. "Imperials are accident prone after all, not properly looking where they're going."

"Yeah, they're only human after all."


	48. I Cannot Cry For I Have No Eyes

Stranger than setting foot on a world that had occupied her nightmares for years was just how uncomfortably not alone she felt. It was by all rights a dead world, desolate, devoid of life. And yet the feeling of being in the presence of others was strong.

As soon as she set foot on the dry, dusty surface, she turned around and waved her hand at the ship. The passenger ramp retracted back up, leaving the _Vastes_ secure for her eventual departure. It would be hard to miss an entire starship when everything else was rocks, rubble and dust.

The mask felt colder than usual on her face when she set out along what had once been a well worn path, leaving the cracked plateau behind. It had started pulsing with energy from the moment she arrived in orbit, and was still doing so.

The only other thing she had with her, aside from her clothes of course, was the lightsaber clipped to her belt. It felt heavier than usual, dragging the right side of the belt down from her waist towards her hip.

 _Azera Vass of Dakkan._

She stopped right in her tracks, a few hundred metres from the ship by then. The voice was very soft, and yet sounded as if it was straining the whisper out. On the brink of being breathless, and yet still forming words coherently.

 _Hail to the Red Empress. Hail to the Supreme Ruler._

Her left hand went for her lightsaber, the right curling around in preparation to launch a lightning strike.

"You mock me, Nihilus. You mock me out of fear, fear that I will destroy you."

 _Hail to the Red Empress, and her dearest wife, the Grey Following._

Beneath the mask, she drew a sharp breath. As soon as she did, the echoes of more metallic breathing began to echo through her ears. Lower in pitch, heavier. A man's breathing, or the sound of someone struggling to.

"The Grey Following? That is not a title for an individual."

 _Hail to the Empress, and her many wives._

Kiarna forced in a heavier breath and pressed on, pulling her hand away from the lightsaber.

 _Hail to the Devouring Empress. Hail to the end of existence._

After some time, she began to catch sight of the ruined city she had felt the strongest presence in. The place most likely to contain the spectre of Darth Nihilus, and with any luck, the turning of her fate from an end she wanted to avoid above all else.

 _Hail to the White Healer. Saviour of the Republic._

Kiarna stopped again. The whispering had not changed in tone or inflection. Was it really taunting her? Was there a different motive?

 _Hail to Grand Master Vass the Exalted. Uniter of the Force._

The metallic breathing persisted on.

"I'm getting tired of this. Empty titles of futures that do not exist are of no interest to me!"

 _Hail to the Red… Em… Divine… Husband… Destroyer… Emper... Valiant…_

As soon as the whisper began to stutter, the breathing in her ears started crackling. A sharp pain surged through her head, forcing her to one knee, and then the other, clutching at the rim of her mask in a desperate attempt to draw on what power it had left to protect herself.

 _Hail to Az… Zim… Zari… Kar… Nurr… Iz… El…_

"Stop! Stop!"

A chilling wind began to pick up. Unseen hands with no form began to grasp at her. So many voices, so many lost souls.

It all vanished abruptly, save for the breathing that merely retreated back to a softer level. Her lightsaber did not feel as heavy, nor did her mask feel so cold.

She lifted her head up, and after a moment's hesitation, took the hand offered to her. The dust in her coat and on her knees slid away with a single gesture from the Lady of Balance.

"Four hundred and seventy three thousand people died here. All were gathered for one singular purpose, collectively scrying the infinite paths of destiny, seeking the answers of what lay ahead." When Kiarna was on her feet properly, the Lady turned the hold on her hand, gripping it in assuring way, reminding her that she had a physical presence. "None could see the end approaching."

Kiarna had to swallow before she felt she could speak. Despite being fully contained by the mask, her throat had gone dry.

"Possible futures? Why? Why am I hearing all of them?"

The black marking on the Lady's face began to glow. "The Force has chosen you as the Sith'ari, just as I chose Tegama as the Jed'nasa. The galaxy revolves around you both. The power to shape destiny is shared between you. What you hear is the lingering echoes of your people, all seeking to unveil the future, only your presence has redirected their enduring efforts."

In a typical display of Sith arrogance, Kiarna took it as a mere confirmation of her status, not as a significant revelation. "They now look to my future?"

The black marking lost its glow as the grey marking lit up. "It is not bound to either of you, not specifically. You may succeed here, or you may die here, your actions will continue to have an effect on the galaxy regardless. There will inevitably be a new leader of the Sith, but when, where, who, and why are all indeterminate. You must find focus, block out the infinite potential so that you can concentrate on your task here."

Kiarna just kept her head forward, little coming to mind that she could possibly say in regards to that 'guidance'.

"What exactly am I supposed to focus on? There is almost literally nothing here."

The Lady smiled in her typical way, the glow moving to the white marking at last. "Your people, and the Jedi who died here. You will only benefit from learning of their last hours, and allowing them to rest. You may even learn a great deal more about yourself, as the Sith'ari, and as Azera Vass."

With a small nod, Kiarna moved to continue on her path, only to stop again and twist her head back. "This seems awfully convenient. A trip through past events right before I face the battle that will see me remembered for the ages?"

With a tilt of her head, the Lady widened her smile. "Sometimes, we all need a little poetic influence."

Kiarna might have just rolled her eyes if she had any, instead choosing to continue on her way without further pause. The breathing was still going without interruption, and now that she was moving away from the Lady's physical presence, the whispering was starting to return as well.

 _Hail to Chaser, Queen of Coruscant._

She drew a breath through the various filters of the mask, and began to settle her mind.

"Infinite potential, one reality. Focus."

The metallic breathing slowed as hers did, still keeping out of pace however.

" _...and it has been months since we last heard from Revan._ "

By then she had reached the ruins of a small building. Where there had once been a courtyard, presumably lined with various plants, two ghostly figures were now gazing out over the floodplains beyond. A man of average height, older by the look of it, the other a shorter being that she soon guessed was Vandar, based on the sound of his voice.

" _Strange it is to have not had word from him, but also not unexpected. He did warn us that communication silence was inevitable, perhaps we simply misunderstood how soon it would happen._ "

Dorak hummed in agreement, reaching up to grab his beard in thought.

" _Nevertheless, he should not have gone alone. And that droid does not count as suitable backup. We may be stretched thin for numbers, but if the threat is truly as great as he maintained…_ "

" _We cannot ask others to join a mission where death is certain, but victory is anything but. And, if others went, Bastila would try to follow as well._ "

That made Dorak hum in a more disapproving tone. " _I thought we were done discussing her. She has made her choice-_ "

" _As have we. That does not mean we must be closed-minded in regards to her welfare, and that of her child. She has worked hard to maintain a level head in spite of the incredible turmoil being seperated from Revan forever means. You may look at her disapprovingly, but I do not. After all she has done for the Order, I at least would see her cared for in return._ "

Vandar looked ready to continue on when both figures looked towards the crumbled building as a third voice began to speak.

" _Masters, we've just received word that Master Atris' ship has suffered a complete breakdown! They believe it will take several hours to repair at least!_ "

" _Unfortunate, we will have to proceed without her then._ "

" _That we will._ "

" _Your tone concerns me, Master Dorak. Do you have doubts about the Conclave?_ "

Dorak looked down to Vandar, gazing for a few moments before ultimately remaining silent on his concern. " _No. Come, they will now be waiting on us to arrive._ "

While the two figures made their way into the ruined building, and promptly vanished, Kiarna checked over the last of her nails before replacing her glove. Somewhere in the middle of the recollection, she had lost interest enough to seek out idle activities to keep occupied with.

"Typical Jedi arrogance. See a problem, dismiss it as nothing, die because of it."

When certain it was over, she started up the path again. Despite the bleak nature of everything around her, it was feeling easier than ever to see a lighter side to her situation.

"You know, surely I can keep out the future whispers while still being on the move. I'm not going to be stopping to watch ghosts chat away while doing battle with endless hunger incarnate."

"You could just keep walking."

Kiarna whipped around to the left. Once again, the Lady of Balance was there, only her presence was a lot fainter.

"Why appear like this again? Or are you-"

"Conserving energy by not adding the physical form?" She glanced down as Kiarna brushed her hand through her chest, phasing through her matterless appearance. "Yes, thank you for so aptly demonstrating it. Anything else you'd like to try?"

Kiarna's hand went right to her hip. "I can't say I've learned a whole lot from watching two dead men talk about Bastila, and demonstrating how idiotic one of them chose to be when warned about a clearly suspect move."

The Lady tilted her head with a slight pout of thought. "I suppose you learned to take warnings more seriously?"

"I'm not interested in learning more if I have to stop every time. Give me another way to concentrate, preferably one that will actually work in the heat of battle, please. Oh, and a way to block out the breathing in my ears would be nice."

When she returned to the path yet again, she was accompanied by the Lady that time, who seemed to float over it rather than taking actual steps.

"I assumed the voices would dissipate when the battle arrived, fear of the one who destroyed them would certainly put any of these lingering souls at bay. But it is not just a way to defeat Darth Nihilus that you will learn from the past."

"Oh, I suppose I will learn to have sympathy for the many many victims of the Sith. You clearly forget who you are talking to."

"The soulmate of a woman whose family you murdered."

That made Kiarna pause again. Her left hand began to clench up. The urge to reach for her lightsaber and lash out was there, despite the futility of trying to strike down a being that was not there. Or more importantly, one that apparently wielded powers far beyond her comprehension. And with that, the reminder that even she was scared of Darth Nihilus.

In that time, the Lady moved forward again, slowly turning to look right into that mask, hoping to peer beneath. "You're still considering killing Maarani. After all you've seen, all I've told you."

"Laying with Zimorr may have been a mistake, but it at least felt real to me in the moment. I'm still far from convinced that a Twi'lek woman is where my interest lie." She took an embittered step forward, bringing the mask within a breath of the Lady's face. "If a life of misery is what I will live as the Red Empress, I might just be ready to accept that fate. I will not throw away the throne of the Empire for any one person. Not after all I have had to achieve, all I've had to sacrifice!"

"And what if you didn't have to choose one or the other?"

Kiarna swallowed, for once completely at a loss as to how to answer. She didn't like being in that kind of position at all.

"As you said. I'm responsible for rounding up her family for execution. I blinded her mother, I boasted that the moment I learned who she was. There are some wounds you just can't heal."

At that, the Lady smiled, her white marking glowing once again.

"You are the Healer, Azera, just as Kiarna is the Sith'ari. There is no wound in existence you can't heal, if you choose to."

Whether it was simply because she had been too preoccupied to notice, or the Lady's protection was slowly wearing off, Kiarna had to shake her head at the sound of the whispers surfacing yet again, prompting her forward.

"Fixing Jayden's broken ribcage is a far cry from earning the forgiveness of a surviving victim of actions I don't exactly feel remorseful about."

 _Trust me. Trust in the Force. Let go._

"It will be easier than you think." The Lady followed on a bit longer, then gestured to the ruined city they were starting to move through. "Here is where it will all happen. It is where it began. And more importantly, you will learn a great deal about the one who is to assist you in this battle."

The thought of others being present concerned Kiarna. There were only a few coming to mind that could possibly match her in strength, and none of them she particularly wanted around. "Fine. I'll play along. But don't act surprised if I am upset afterwards that there was in fact nothing of worth to be learned from this after all."

"And don't be surprised when it turns out I was being perfectly honest."

After taking one more deep breath, Kiarna pushed on with her ascent, this time alone. The crumbling buildings were beginning to loom around, deathly still, and yet still bearing the presence of their long gone occupants.

 _Enemy ships! Ten! Twenty!_

She reached a plaza that looked out over a valley that gradually sprawled out into rolling hills, more buildings lining either side of the starting inlet on various levels. While most of the ruins she had passed by showed signs of decay from lack of management, the ones before her were far more scattered. Blasted apart by weapons fire from orbit.

 _Identification code registered on the lead ship! The Ravager!?_

The metallic breathing slowed again, replaced by screams and explosions. The local Miraluka populace and the Jedi preparing for a ground invasion that would never come.

 _Visas! Get down!_

She heard the echo of a very close explosion while walking past a dust-filled crater in the path, moving more slowly now as she ascended towards the upper levels of the city.

 _No landing craft! What are they waiting for?_

A horrible chill went through her body as she reached the upper level. For a few seconds, the ruins were no longer in decay, but actively burning. Bodies littered the paths around her, and those that were still standing had turned their head upwards, Miraluka and Jedi alike.

The screams that followed were snuffed out abruptly, without warning. All around, people simply dropped dead, their bodies, and later their clothes quickly crumbling away into dust. The plant life suffered a similar fate, collapsing into nothingness without any sign of a cause. No great plume of energy encompassing the planet, no spiralling tendrils of black clouds. Just the cold feeling of the dark side unleashed.

When she turned her head back to the path, where there had once been smouldering rubble was Visas, crawling up a pile of rubble. In the distance, she heard a ship landing, but the pitch of the sound was drastically off. It wasn't until she moved closer, looked at the movement of Visas that she realized it was a lapse of several minutes at least. An agonizing crawl towards whatever safety she could find.

Kiarna had to take a step back when a dark figure rose up at the top of the rubble. Straight from her nightmares, both in the depths of her meditation and waking, the spectral figure of her protector and simultaneously worst enemy.

Darth Nihilus.

 _Please… help…_

His hand shot out in a reflex motion, causing Visas to gasp out before falling unconscious. The hand twisted, lifting her up off the ground until she was now hovering parallel in front of him, well within reach of the other hand that he moved up to her face.

The sound that followed set off Kiarna's gag reflex, enough to stumble to one knee while she tried to swallow it back. By the time she had looked back up, two mounds of flesh were sitting on his hand.

To her mild relief, he merely clenched his hand around them, reducing both to dust as well. With both hands free, he turned Visas' motionless form until she was resting in his arms, at which point he turned around and continued back the way he had come, his soon-to-be apprentice completely helpless.

"Come to serve a new master, Sith?"

Kiarna whipped around, her hand once again lashing towards her lightsaber.

Halfway down the path she had just come was another Miraluka woman. Most of her attire looked Jedi from what she could make of it, but what made her blood boil was the Luka Sene visor and shoulder guard proudly on display.

"Sereti Pala. You have no business being here Jedi! I am here to destroy Darth Nihilus! I want nothing to do with his wretched power!"

"Tell me another lie." Sereti had drawn her own lightsaber by then, and was ready at a moment's notice to activate it in defense. "Sith always lie. Sith also always crave power, it is the nature of the dark side. You will try to take what you can before he is destroyed altogether. You have no other reason to be here, when you have no interest in avenging your own people!"

Kiarna raised her own lightsaber in an offensive posture, but also held off on activating it. "My own people? Your kind are the ones butchering them! Drilling into their skulls! Cutting away the parts that make them unique! You have no right to judge me!"

Sereti remained steadfast, though her teeth were beginning to grind. "I knew it! I knew from the moment Tegama told us you were Miraluka that you had to be one of the corrupted! And now, either you are so desperate for power you seek to draw on the greatest threat the galaxy has ever known! Or…" Her grip on the lightsaber twisted, starting to shift into an offensive posture of her own. "Where are the others? The ones you've kept hidden. The ones Darth Nihilus wants to consume once he's done with you!"

At that moment, in a very strange impulse, Kiarna lowered her lightsaber, and even returned it to her belt.

"You're pathetic. The Grand Master of the Jedi, reduced to accusing the Sith'ari of being deluded into a trap by a Sith ghost. I have mastered control over the corruption. You've lost yourself to the obsession over it. Go away, and let me do what I came to do."

She had barely turned around when she heard a lightsaber ignition. As expected, there was now a blue glow behind her, right in front of Sereti.

"You actually think you're the Sith'ari? You have the guts to claim that while also claiming you aren't deluded? This will always be the folly of the Sith! This is why we can never trust your kind!"

With patience running thin at last, Kiarna redrew her lightsaber and activating it, turning back around to prepare for the inevitable blows.

"I didn't claim that title, I was bestowed it by the Lady of Balance. And you. You and I are not enemies because I am Sith and you are Jedi." She took a threatening step forward, closing the gap between them to mere metres. "We are enemies because I have a tumour in my brain and you still owe allegiance to a group that wants to lobotomize me because of it!"

"Ladies, before we come to blows..."

Both Kiarna and Sereti redirected their attention to a rise above them, the last remains of a conservatory that had once extended out over the path a bit. Standing there was yet another woman, wearing a wrap-around dress tied at the waist, and a pair of black tinted goggles. Her hair was still a wild mess.

Sereti nearly dropped her lightsaber in shock, her hand beginning to shake quite a bit.

"Visas? How…"

Kiarna on the other hand remained quite calm. After what she had seen, and the Lady had mentioned, her assumption on who was to actually aid her was proven right at last. She deactivated her lightsaber as well, but kept it in hand that time.

In a graceful movement, Visas leapt from the rise to the top of the ridge where the rubble pile led towards, standing just to the left of where Kiarna had seen Darth Nihilus.

"It's good to see you again Sereti. I've come to see the end of my former master at long last." While she had a smile for Sereti, it faded quickly when she turned to Kiarna. "You are not meant to be here however. The vision was clear. A Miraluka of light, dark and grey each. Sereti Pala, Azera Vass, and myself. Where is she, Kiarna?"

Kiarna's grip on her lightsaber tightened. "Far from here. She-"

"Visas, answer me!" Sereti physically barged past Kiarna, clambering up the slope until she had reached the ridge and was able to confront Visas directly. "I saw the lightsaber strike you! I saw you go down in the confusion! How by the grace of the gods are you now standing here, alive and apparently well enough to fight the manifestation of endless hunger!?"

Visas' hand went to her forehead, rubbing over the lightsaber scar beneath her goggles while sighing with a hint of frustration.

"Sereti, I've had to do some unpleasant things since that day, I had to distance myself from the Jedi until this moment. And it really isn't the time to discuss such matters when-"

"Don't change the subject! Twenty four years! Twenty four years we've known each other! Do you know what I've been through in your absence? What I've had to do to keep the Jedi from falling apart!"

A weakness had begun to creep into Sereti's voice, something that Kiarna noted while she idly climbed up to the ridge as well amidst the dramatic outpouring.

"Sereti, we can-"

"I grieved for you! I grieved when no-one else was near! I had to convince everyone else you had simply decided to wander the galaxy in isolation, while I was convinced right down to my heart you were dead! And then you just show up and act as if six years of grieving is meaningless!"

Kiarna remained quiet as she turned her attention away from the pair to a spot further ahead on the plateau. Approaching at great speed was a dark figure, and as it came into view, she could make out the shape of a mask on its face. The time of battle had come at last.

"Visas. About Azera Vass…"

"I told you, I had to be completely removed from the Jedi to do a lot of the things I felt were necessary to prepare for Darth Nihilus' return. Do you know just how morally straining it is to prepare five individuals to become Force Wounds solely so they can actually fight that monstrosity?"

As Darth Nihilus drew closer, Kiarna felt her mask growing cold again, while the metallic breathing picked up once more. The absence of further past voices had gone unnoticed thanks to her argument with Sereti, but now it was confirmation of the Lady's assumptions.

"You could have consulted me! I would have taken any secret of yours to the grave, you know that! Any burden of yours is mine to bear as well, you shouldn't have left me out like that!"

Kiarna ignited her lightsaber at last, raising it once again against the approaching spectre.

"He's here. And for the record, Azera Vass made it to this fight after all."

The shock of that revelation to both Visas, and Sereti especially was cut short by the chilling wave that passed over all three. Now close enough to make out properly, the previously long dead Sith Lord had taken enough of a physical form to exist as a plain figure beneath the mask and ghostly robes. A long sword of raw dark energy manifested in his hand, the other remaining ready to strike.

The other two Miraluka drew their lightsabers at last, standing defensively beside Kiarna as she tried very hard to remain calm.

"So, Visas, since you've helped kill him once before, any suggestions?"

Nihilus raised his free hand towards the three at that moment.

 _Ru wred pikar'ik, shra'laa._

"And he could be talking about either one of us, seeing as I was supposed to be his new host and decided not to accept."

Visas nodded to Sereti, who began to very slowly circle around to the left. "Somehow I doubt he wants to damage the body he wants to inhabit. And as you said, I did fight him to the death once before."

 _Qorit! Plag derriph'i'ari wred vex'ik!_

Nihilus changed position in an instant, his hand now stretched out directly towards Sereti. A searing orange beam of lightning leapt out, striking her directly in the chest. An otherworldly growl began to echo as he sapped the life from her screaming form, until she collapsed to the ground. Not dead, but close enough to be completely out of the fight until he was ready to finish her.

Quick to react, Visas saw it for the distraction it was, and leapt right for Nihilus instead.

Just as quickly, he changed back to his previous position, this time with the shadow blade ready to block her lightsaber blow.

"If you are indeed Azera, heal her! I need her more than I need you right now!"

As lightsaber began to clash against shadow blade in heavy strikes, Kiarna looked between the pair and Sereti, weighing up her options. If Visas truly was required in order to defeat Nihilus, then ultimately, she had to keep her on side.

"Damn you Jedi for this."

She dashed over to Sereti's side, resting a hand on the scorch mark on her chest. There was very little breathing from her, seemingly countered by the increasingly loud metallic breathing now actively ringing in her ears.

"I expect gratitude for this, Sereti. I restore your life, and you stop hunting me down."

Even with the healing energy flowing into her body, Sereti was too weak to even murmur an answer.

"I do wonder why he picked her."

Kiarna cursed under her breath when the Lady materialized again, standing beside her.

"Whatever do you mean now?"

"Visas. I wonder why he chose to spare her. She believes I saved her from the Devouring, but the power to do that is far beyond my capability even at this time. Darth Nihilus spared her, and I haven't a clue why."

After lifting her hand away briefly to check the physical wound, Kiarna placed it back down to continue. The worst of the damage had been curtailed at least.

"Quite frankly I don't care about his motivations, he's made them clear enough to me. How do I destroy him permanently?"

The Lady tilted her head as she watched the duel between dead master and former apprentice continue on, Visas pulling out all the stops to counter Nihilus' incredible agility as a semi-spectral being.

"Well, the actual act is simple enough. Getting there is a matter of breaking his will before he breaks yours. You'll have to act quickly though, Visas is about to make a fatal mistake that will see him grow in power beyond what you can handle."

Kiarna stood up on the spot almost immediately, leaving Sereti with enough healing energy to recover on her own. Her stance was entirely fixed on the Lady.

"You only tell me this now?"

"She was right in that you have to keep Sereti alive, I didn't want you stopping before it was time." The Lady gestured to the duel again, waiting for Kiarna to focus her attention there before continuing. "She is about to open herself up to him, and attempt to kill herself. As soon as that occurs, the others will sacrifice themselves as well, drawing Nihilus into what she believes will be a crippling Wound that will allow you and Sereti to destroy him. Nihilus will stop her before that, consume her fully, and come for you next. You need to stop her before that-"

Visas had deflected another crushing blow with precision, readying to attempt a strike at his form when a lightning blast struck her in the side, sending her tumbling across the plateau away from the duel. It didn't take long at all to trace the source back to Kiarna.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

Kiarna was already charging in to take her place in the duel, clashing her purple lightsaber against the shadow blade.

"Saving your life Jedi! The Lady told me about your plan, that it was going to fail catastrophically!"

"The Lady? Is she-"

In a moment of her own undoing, Kiarna directed her attention to where the Lady had been beside Sereti. Before she could regain focus, Nihilus had grabbed her by the wrist. The mask on her face grew ice cold, while every muscle in her body went numb.

 _Ja'vad._

Visas leapt over with an overbearing strike intended for Nihilus, looking dead on to hit her target until the lightsaber blade struck a protective field that had encompassed both him and Kiarna, now that they had become fully motionless. The print on her mask was glowing brighter than ever.

Under her breath she cursed at the disastrous turn of events. "Why didn't she take the mask off? How could she be so stupid?"

A few more flurried attacks proved just as ineffective, and even resisted a direct attack through the Force itself using her own technique of burrowing past virtually any fixed defense. There was no way to break Kiarna out of the hold now.

Thinking quickly, she turned her attention to Sereti again, who by then had regained enough strength to awkwardly lean up while clutching at the burn scar left on her chest.

"That was a cowardly move from him, but nevertheless I am sorry you went through that." She reached her hand out to grab Sereti's wrist, waiting until she looked ready to stand before hauling her up.

Sereti scratched at the scar a bit longer before finally deciding to leave it alone, instead taking the time to adjust her visor back into position. "That's unlike any near-death experience I've been through before."

"We should all be eternally grateful that none of the current Sith have mastered that technique. On that subject…" Visas motioned back to the other pair, still locked in that same position. "I don't have a clue how to break the shield. And I'm not about to rely on Kiarna to outlast Nihilus' attack, however strong her will is."

"I'll admit, she has more restraint than I'd give other Sith credit for. But even so, she's still-"

Right from the sky itself came a powerful beam blast that struck Nihilus' position dead on, lasting just a mere second before dissipating. Despite Visas and Sereti both having to dive to the ground for cover, Kiarna's shield had protected both within from the full brunt of the blast.

Once again, Visas was quickly back on her feet, this time tilting her head upwards towards where she guessed the beam had come from. "I don't recall the Republic fleet using beam weapons!"

Sereti got back up on her own that time, hissing slightly at herself. "That's not the Republic up there. It's the _Kaylik's Virtue_."

Visas turned her head back as she finally reached the realization Sereti was onto.

"You'd better get on the communicator then. And just to be clear, I don't want you telling the Luka Sene I am in fact alive. I wouldn't have had to fake my death if they had done things properly."

* * *

The command centre was dimly lit, just visible enough for anyone who actually perceived the world through the visible light spectrum to make out the shapes of people and objects, perhaps what they were wearing if their low light eyesight was good.

Lights were virtually irrelevant to Miraluka after all. Even the holograms they used were so finely tuned that they were virtually invisible to those not perceiving the energy projection through the Force. Optimized, streamlined, and most importantly infallible to them.

"Effect?"

The helmsman waved her hand over what otherwise appeared to be a black metal slate spread in front of her. Several attuned holograms were relaying information from the ship's scanners as well as the scryers in their observation chambers, both reaching the same conclusion.

"Negligible damage, if any. Scryers reporting an energy field not unlike that employed by the White Terror."

Aibrehl's hand went to his visor, the fingers curling back down until he was rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Damn her. If the rumours are true, and Kiarna is one of our people, she's only made things worse. This is one time we can't allow ourselves to feel remorseful for killing another Miraluka."

"Incoming transmission, from the surface."

That got Aibrehl's attention, his hand returning to the railing as he leaned forward a little. "Receive."

The hologram that appeared was rather more standard in appearance, still visibile to all on the bridge, but also to any non-Miraluka who might be accompanying them at a given moment.

" _Whomever in the blazing hells of Bogan decided to fire on a target just metres from us-!_ " Sereti's moment of anger softened into contempt when she finally saw who it was in command. " _Aibrehl, I thought you retired._ "

"And we were led to believe you had stepped down from leading the Jedi. If you couldn't handle leading them any further, why do you believe you can handle this threat?

Sereti remained tight lipped as she looked to one side, presumably to listen to the other with her. When she looked back to Aibrehl, that hardened look remained.

" _The person I am with has a plan. They don't wish to be identified for some damn good reasons, all you need to know is that we need Kiarna alive to execute it. We can deal with her after Darth Nihilus is destroyed._ "

Aibrehl turned his head to the tactical officer for a more direct exchange of intent. He began charging the main laser array, maintaining the same target.

"At least your confidence has returned. And from the look of it, you've remembered where some of your loyalties belong.

" _I've been with the Jedi far longer than I was with the Luka Sene, I'm done having this discussion. We will do our best to breach it from down here, just be sure that you are ready to stop firing if something changes._ "

"Quick to give orders. Perhaps I should have retired, you're clearly not done with leading just yet."

" _This isn't the time Aibrehl. Just, please, for the sake of everything, go along with this._ "

After turning to his other officers for their own silent input, he gave a quiet sigh, gripping onto the railing further. "Fine. But confirm for me this. Is Kiarna one of our people?"

Sereti looked away again, this time for a much briefer time before looking back. " _She's Azera Vass, Aibrehl. I think we know who massacred the Vass family now."_

"The missing daughter."

" _There are forces at work here beyond the Jedi and the Sith. And we need to tread very carefully about how we handle the Sith'ari, if she is in fact telling the truth._ "

* * *

The first thing Kiarna noticed when she regained consciousness was the heat.

It was not the heat of a dry inferno, of coursing rivers of lava or blistering desert sand. It was humid and clammy. And the putrid smell that permeated the filters of her mask reeked of death and decay.

When she was able to right herself, and orientate her vision of her surroundings, she could see why.

Countless bodies. Republic soldiers, Jedi, and Mandalorians.

 _You are a fool. The most complete kind. The one that thinks herself the height of power while wielding nothing at all._

She shuddered as the voice spoke. An old woman. Very hard to not guess at who it was intended to be.

"I'm not falling for it Nihilus! Darth Traya abandoned her ties to the Force, she is gone!"

A Mandalorian leapt out from a ridge above, ready to strike her down with a cleaving blow from his vibrostaff. On instinct, she drew her lightsaber and cut him in two, watching the halves fall either side of her. It felt so very real.

It was then that she turned her attention up the incline, through the bodies that littered the cliff-bound path she was on. Two men fighting it out at the top. Mandalore the Ultimate, and Revan the Jedi Knight.

 _You are not even a pathetic imitation. Strutting about in a mask crafted by your own hand, attempting to make a name for yourself that would see you remembered for all eternity. You have earned nothing._

"Watch me!"

With every step of Kiarna's charge up the hill, lightsaber trailing behind, another assailant leapt down at her. The hum of her blade, purple slashing through all manner of colours and uniforms. Practically bodies throwing themselves at her to slow her ascent.

The metallic breathing rasping away at her mind.

 _You are a disgrace to the Sith. You have been set on a path of ruin by Lasidia, one that you refuse to see, and it will be your rightful undoing. The only path away from ruin is surrender._

Just as Darth Traya materialized at the summit, just metres away from the duelling pair, Kiarna came swinging in. Her single purple lightsaber clashed against the three crossed in front of her.

"You are unworthy of the mantle of Empress. I would not even strike you down with the back of my hand for how little you mean."

"Coming from an old hag who talks too much!"

In a clean movement, Kiarna deactivated her lightsaber momentarily, letting the weight of her block carry it forward until she was able to reactivate it behind the triple blades, cutting the spectre of Traya through before she herself was hit by the bearing lightsabers.

Everything surrounding her changed at an instant. The battlefield, in all its stench of blood, mud and cinder was replaced by the cold sterility of an enclosed room instead, one filled with computer consoles and a vast tactical table.

One Sith stood against several Jedi, standing over the body of a Republic grand admiral.

 _It is in the nature of Sith to betray their brothers and sisters. It will be no different with you. You cannot control all the forces at your disposal, they will inevitably turn on you and lead to yet another dark age for the Empire._

Kiarna's head lowered a little. She didn't recognize the face of the Sith, or the voice that had spoken, but she now recalled enough to reach a conclusion.

"Drawing on Exar Kun now, Nihilus? What do you hope to accomplish?"

 _A child wields a power beyond her comprehension and is destroyed by it. It was true then, it is true to this day. The throne of the Empire is not meant for one who is handed it by her master. It is meant for that who seizes it in spite of everything opposing her._

"I knew I'd have to fight Rak'Sakar someday anyway! I am not being handed anything!"

While she didn't appreciate the irony, she charged towards Ulic Qel-Droma in union with the Jedi strike force.

The metallic breathing sighed heavily.

When they all reached Qel-Droma's position however, the recreation took a disastrous turn from history. The cornered Sith's body erupted in a plume of darkness that cast all but Kiarna to the far corners of the room, leaving her to brace behind her lightsaber as her sense of sight was overwhelmed.

Before she had even recovered, a hard swing of a double bladed lightsaber came crashing down on her own, forcing her down to a knee. To her further shock, her blocking left hand was beginning to tremble, showing signs of weakness.

Exar Kun's hardened face loomed above their crossed blades, full of malice towards her.

"I revived the Sith through the teachings of a Sith prodigy! Darth Lasidia draws from a drunken coward who beat his slaves to feel a semblance of superiority!"

"And I draw from the teachings of a woman who has greater vision for the Sith than her own gain of power!"

This time she used the applied force of her oppressor for her own benefit, bending herself back towards the floor while sweeping her other leg around, watching the blades move over until she had the opportunity to slide beneath and twist her lightsaber up through Kun's form.

Yet again her surroundings changed, this time taking her to a battlefield of a different type altogether. While she pulled herself off the ground, still riding the blood rush of anger, she perceived countless bodies littered in a large circle, while many more Sith that yet lived charged towards their central destination.

 _I was arrogant, foolish, just like you. I believed I could reform the Sith, that I was the Sith'ari. But I was wrong, and I and my husbands paid the ultimate price for it, just as you will._

She recognized nothing of the voice, or the event in question, even as she joined the charging forces towards that central location.

There, she found three individuals fighting for their lives in the middle of it. A human man, a Twi'lek man, and a Kaleesh woman. She soon deduced it was the woman that had been speaking.

 _We have met before, we will meet again. I judged you as unworthy of the title of Empress, not out of self-arrogance and disgust, but of experience. You do not have the stomach to murder all who would dare oppose you, when so many of them are your closest allies._

Kiarna watched as the human man cried out in agony, a lacerating whip ripping at his skin until he was crisscrossed in wounds. A different kind of whip was used on the Twi'lek, barbs lashing out and digging into his lekku, bringing him to his knees as he was soon dragged off into the crowd to be mutilated further.

Shocksticks brought the Kaleesh to her knees. The crowd parted around Kiarna, laying a path for her to approach the fallen Sith Lord.

The breathing rasped out a choking cough.

She found herself standing over the woman at last, lightsaber gripped in her hand, and yet not as firm as expected. When she looked down, she could see it shaking violently, almost too weak to hold it. Something was very wrong.

"You cannot stop what is coming for you. Don't fight back. Give in peacefully, surrender yourself and it will be better for all."

This time, Kiarna had no real verbal rebuttal. Everything she tried to lash out with faltered before she could speak. Her control of self slowly slipping away.

It was not her own impulse that saw her lightsaber raised above Darth Trutinavi, and brought slicing down directly through the middle of her body, cutting her cleanly in two. When she fell apart, it was with the wound of a vibroblade, and not a lightsaber.

She barely moved when her surroundings changed yet again. The smell of ash and fire rose as she came to see a devastated courtyard. There were now Jedi bodies, as well as others she didn't yet recognize. Once back on her feet, she found herself standing beside several Jedi Masters she did recognize from holo-images. Enough to once again gather where she had been taken to.

 _Even I, the purest form of dark power, could do nothing to save my people. Death is an inevitability, to challenge it is futile. To resist it with all your might is to waste energy for a meaningless effort._

They were all facing towards a temple entrance of sorts, where many Vahla bodies lay. To her immediate left was Jolee Bindo. Nomi Sunrider. Vrook Lamar and Vandar Tokare and stood to her right. From what she had been told of that day by her master, she had taken the position of Atris, the five leading Jedi ready to make the stand against the last of the Vahla menace.

It also meant she knew exactly what was about to follow.

Two great plumes of brilliant white fire erupted from the temple entrance, disintegrating the nearest Jedi in fiery agony.

From the temple itself stepped out a woman. Bathed in similar white flame that formed the shape of a dress, she stood proud and firm, her jet black eyes the only thing not the purest shade of white. The one hint that she was anything but a divine being of good.

To Kiarna's further confusion, she looked uncannily like Dana Lauran.

"Ash! You are all ash!"

It sounded like her as well.

 _The Lord of Hunger will see his will done, there is no escaping it. You have always been a tool for him to use one day, just as the Vahla were my tools of destruction. Tools must eventually serve their purpose to their ultimate end._

As another pair of fiery plumes fired in their direction, she found herself raising a Force block automatically along with the others. The scorching heat that still made it through was painful to her skin, as if threatening that the block could fail at any moment and see them all vaporized.

Just as she was told, the Jedi trap was sprung at that moment. Two more launching bolas at Vahl, all coated in nullifying resin that quickly bound her, forcing her out of Suroni's body. More Jedi leapt forward, hurling rings of resin at the great white spark as it withdrew into the open, gradually ensnaring and encircling it down to a trapped Ember within.

She couldn't stand it any longer.

With a fierce mustering up of her strength, she broke her trembling body out of the stance and lashed out, cutting Jolee down, then Nomi, Vrook and even Vandar.

"I will not submit! I will not give in to this!"

The scape of the Vahla temple shattered away as Vahl merged back with Suroni to rush over and strike her down with a fierce blow.

"You have no choice! You were made to serve! You cannot change fate!"

Kiarna wrested herself back up onto her knees, only for Vahl to grab her hand just as Nihilus had. This time, her other hand extended, forming a tight beam of black fire that looked ready to puncture through anything.

In that same moment, her form flickered away briefly. Standing in her place was Sereti, carrying a laser probe in hand instead.

Both were ready to drill into her brain and destroy the part of it she had always fought to protect.

"No! No! I will not-!"

The form continued to flicker between Vahl and Sereti, both the beam of fire and the laser probe moving closer and closer to her head.

The metallic breathing grew louder in her ears than ever.

"Submit! You are now the Devouring Empress!" The form flickered again, this time taking on the appearance of Nihilus, wielding a piece of bone between his fingertips. "Submit!"

She wailed in pain as she tore her hand free, only to strike back with the largest bolt of lightning she could possibly conjure.

It tore right through the spectre, leaving it to disintegrate while she watched the lightning arc out into the abyss surrounding her. A rumbling echo was left in its wake, until she heard nothing more of it.

"I… I will not…"

"You will. For you have none left to spare."

She inhaled. The breathing in her ears exhaled.

Behind her stood Traya, Nihilus and Sion, all glaring down at her.

 _Nwûl tash._

As Kiarna struggled to stand, Revan and Malak materialized at the sides, Bandon behind Nihilus and Traya.

 _Dzwol shâsotkun._

More Sith began to materialize. Exar Kun, Ulic Qel-Droma, and faces she soon didn't recognize.

 _Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk._

"I stand for purity in the night."

Yet more past Sith appeared, those already there starting to raise their right arm.

 _Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan._

"Harmony with the void."

And more, and more, and more.

 _Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha._

"Emotions are the core…" She gasped in pain as she fell back to the floor, clutching at her aching body.

Somewhere along the way, Freedon Nadd, Naga Sadow and Marka Ragnos all appeared in turn.

 _Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak._

"Fear gives me… Anger gives me…"

 _Wonoksh Qyâsik nun._

Kiarna clutched at her ears as the breathing grew louder than ever. All of the Sith that had come before were pointing at her, glaring. So much dark power.

"I… I know my… agh!"

She collapsed to the ground altogether, writhing in pain as she was forced to watch a second group of Sith begin to materialize opposite the first.

Future Sith. All the Dark Lords, Darths and others that would follow after. Not from her line, not from the succession of Ludo Kressh, but that of Naga Sadow.

Humans, Bith, Zabrak, Twi'lek, Muun, Mon Calamari, Zeltrons, Ithorians, Mirialans, Purebloods, cyborgs. More, more and more races, some she didn't even know of.

So many faces, so many individuals. So much combined dark power, all focusing down on her.

"I know my place! I am the Sith'ari! I-"

 _You are the Red Empress, and the White Healer. Azera, listen…_

By the time the surroundings changed yet again, Kiarna had lost all control over her body. She was now nothing more than observer, practically floating outside of it from her perspective through the Force, watching as the last scene set for her unfolded.

The metallic breathing had gone near silent by then, now audible from an actual source at last. She watched herself walk up to a great pair of doors that stood between her and the breathing, lightsaber in her right hand and active.

When the doors opened, she wanted to gasp, only to feel the agonizing sensation of being completely breathless.

It was a throne room that had been opened, dark, dim, and bleak. Three giant windows looked out over the pouring rain of what had once been a Sith capital, now nothing more than rubble and ruin.

The throne itself bore marks of battle, blaster shots and lightsaber strikes alike. It was the figure sitting on the throne that made her want to choke most.

Dressed in a red bodysuit, with a long red overcoat tied at the waist, and a matching vest beneath, was the Red Empress herself. The only difference between her and herself, aside from the colour, was the lack of her iconic mask. Instead, the head had been wrapped up entirely in white cloth.

A circular breathing mechanism implanted into the neck lit up as she inhaled.

The metallic breathing she had been hearing all along. The approaching echo of her supposed future.

When the Red Empress spoke, it was with a rasp that sounded like Azera's voice, only it clearly didn't need a filter to achieve it anymore.

"The failure of a Sith that is my daughter, come home at last. Is it to beg for forgiveness, or has she actually found a drop of courage to do what should have been done so long ago?"

There was no way for Kiarna to see who she had taken the place of, no way to determine who had supposedly fathered a daughter with her. No real answers to be gained.

"Why do you still mock me mother? I tried! I tried to live up to your expectations!"

The voice was completely unfamiliar to her. It still reeked of desperation, of anguish, and as so adequately put by her future self, of cowardice.

The Red Empress stood up from her throne at that, taking one trembling step forward after the other.

"That's right. You tried!"

She lashed out with a weak spray of lightning that still made her daughter wail while she fell to her knees.

"Trying is not enough! It is never enough! You do or you do not! You should have accepted you could never live up to my expectations and be done with it!"

Despite the frailty of her body, the Empress was still able to deliver a sickeningly harsh blow with the back of her hand to her daughter's cheek. It was an immediately uncomfortable reminder to Kiarna of how many times Lasidia had struck her in that same fashion.

"Whimpering on the floor, crying. Even a Jedi would put up more of a fight! I have killed so many! And what have you achieved? Nothing!" She reached to her belt and drew her lightsaber, still purple as always. "You didn't even have the guts to go and join them. Perhaps I could at least find respect for you then! I can respect a child who would rather defy their parents! But you've done nothing!"

The kick that followed struck right back to Kiarna herself in so many ways. It wasn't even malicious, designed to feed into her own need for pain in others. It was petty. How low could she have possibly fallen in that time?

"Get up! Stop crying and get up! Do one thing in your life and kill me! Kill the last Empress of the Sith! Die with something to your name! Do it!"

"Mother please!"

The Red Empress raised her lightsaber in preparation to maim her. "Don't plead girl! Just…"

After a few quiet seconds, the lightsaber dropped from her hand, deactivating before it hit the floor. Shortly after, she hit the floor too, gargling away one last time as a red stain began to appear on the cloth wrappings, spreading as the breathing unit gave out at last.

Kiarna watched her body scramble over to the now dead Empress, clutching at the frail hand, pleading for any sign of life when there was none.

"No worse fate than there can be for a Sith, than to die the most miserable of deaths, and be forgotten for it."

The last scene faded, allowing her control of her body at last. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to stand, feeling so completely drained in all ways. She could no longer fathom a reason to go on, the notion simply wasn't there. Her fate pointed towards an end she wanted no part of.

She didn't even move when one last figure appeared.

It had her form, only twisted into a far more grotesque appearance. Her once white clothes had stained shades of red and some other colours from blood. Her mask had been physically torn off across the jaw area, revealing broken and mangled teeth where the lips and other flesh had been gnashed away long ago.

The other fate she was about to be resigned to, the Devouring Empress.

"It does not have to be that way. You can still fulfil the role of the Sith'ari. We will wipe out the degenerates, wipe out the Jedi, and find a way to end the ceaseless hunger before we are destroyed by ourselves. We will either rule the galaxy unopposed, or die in the knowledge that we achieved what no other Sith possibly could."

 _Azera, there are always three paths…_

Kiarna took a deep breath as the Lady's words echoed through to the depths of her mind, then slowly began to stand. She turned around in a few small steps, and finally began moving towards the Devouring Empress, reaching her hand out.

"You're right."

She took the mangled hand offered, what little there was of the shredded glove matting her own pristine one.

"I can't follow the path of the Red Empress."

As the Devouring Empress tilted her head, Kiarna made her move.

Her lightsaber found its mark, impaling the false version of her clean through. A withering cry came from the effective corpse as she twisted her arm, yanking her in closer.

"I know what the Lady wants me to do now! What you were afraid of!"

The lightsaber twisted, cutting further into the Devouring Empress, forcing her to change back into the form of Darth Nihilus.

"I will become the White Empress! I will change the Sith fundamentally, and lead them to a new way of being! I am the first of the Light Sith!"

* * *

A mere few minutes had passed in reality, by which point Sereti and Visas had taken up opposing sides on Kiarna's shield, both directing as much Force energy and a stream of debris at it with the intent of wearing it down through sheer attrition. They were both far enough away that there was minimal risk from the orbital laser barrage that once again struck dead on, also to little result.

"And what if this doesn't work?"

"We all die a horrible agonizing death, or else Kiarna dies and Nihilus waits until we're all gone before trying again!"

"Can't you come up with a long term contingency plan before then?"

"I am not asking yet more to become involved in the process of artificial Force wounds!"

"Then how else do you-"

Quite abruptly, both were thrown back by a sudden eruption of energy from the shield. Sereti barely managed to keep hold of her communicator in the tumble, scrambling to get it back on once she had gotten her bearings.

"Hold fire! Hold fire!"

She got back to her feet, ready to resume the attack on Darth Nihilus when she stopped completely, noticing Visas had done the same.

Azera was swinging wildly, her lightsaber cutting through his form at every swing as she practically growled in rage. Every unearthly cry that came from the blows grew more and more desperate, until she raised the lightsaber right above her head, and brought it cleaving right down the middle of his form.

The blow broke his mask in two, sending the pieces flying away until they withered into black mist.

Thunder from the distant storm above crackled out as the spectre of Darth Nihilus fell to its knees, now nothing more than a figure of shadow with a featureless face of pure black. Completely at Azera's mercy.

She took a long breath, lightsaber ready in hand, the other stretched out to enhance her dramatic pose.

"You've done it Azera. It was an answer you had to realize on your own in the end, the conclusion of one era, and the beginning of another."

Azera briefly put her attention on the Lady of Balance again. This time, there was no more danger from Nihilus.

"Full circle, ending the days of the Dark Jedi with a new line of Light Sith. This is why you told me I'm the Sith'ari, why you've been so insistent I listen to the Jedi."

The Lady shrugged with her familiar smile. "You've made one choice, many more will follow. There is one right before you, and it will set the standard for the White Empire. What kind of mercy will be given? What kind of people do you intend to lead?"

Azera exhaled. The lightsaber in her left hand, and nothing in her right. Nothing physical anyway.

The mercy of a quick death, or the mercy of a fulfilled life.

With one last look back at Sereti and Visas, who had both stopped nearby to watch in stunned silence, she lashed her hand out.

As her right made contact with the void face of Nihilus, she quivered throughout her whole body. There was one final memory trapped within the shell of a man, one she had just seen. The memory of a man rushing to the aid of Revan in his duel with Mandalore the Ultimate, slashing his way to the very end.

"Your suffering, your time as the Lord of Hunger is over. The Wound you bear, as the White Healer I close. Go in peace."

Beneath her fingertips, a faint glow began to spread across the blackened surface, the figure of a man in front of her slowly vanishing into ash with the deepest of sighs. The kind that came as a final breath of relief.

Azera deactivated her lightsaber, returned it to her belt, and slowly sank to her knees in turn. As the dark clouds above dissipated at last, Azera removed the mask from her face, and took her first breath of Katarr's unfiltered air.

She turned the mask around, facing the red print towards herself for a full minute, before turning it again and setting it back in place.

"You weren't exactly subtle with 'There's no wound in existence you can't heal, if you choose to' you know."

"There is something to be gained by figuring out things for yourself, but I wasn't going to be incredibly obtuse about the matter no."

Azera turned to face the Lady directly, by now having realized that both Sereti and Visas could see her as well now, and apparently had the decency to give them space. "What do I tell them? Freeing the man that became Nihilus isn't exactly enough evidence of a change of heart, and there's also all the things I've done in the past to answer for."

"There will come a time when you will prove to the Jedi that you have a new future in mind for the Sith, and there will also come a time when justice is sought, and you are redeemed of your actions. That is the way of things."

She nodded at that, what else could she say in response. "And, about Maarani. Is it just her appearance you've taken on, or do I get to 'enjoy' more aloof behaviour being around her more, once she stops trying to kill me?"

"We have a lot in common its true, hence the appearance, but she is very much her own person, with her own personality, and many many flaws, traits and strengths to discover. Bear with it, let her lead you to the Light of the Force, and you will lead her to find the Force within herself again. Then she can truly begin to help you begin building the foundation for the Light Sith, as the Jed'nasa."

"The Chosen One? So it's not just a coincidence then? The Sith'ari and the Jed'nasa just happening to be soulmates is a little far fetched even considering everything that's…" She let her own words trail off. "I didn't even have time to think about it like that until now. What does that say about you then?"

The Lady smiled a little wider. "Perhaps she wasn't the Chosen One before she was your soulmate. I do the choosing after all. And what can I say? I just so happen to like a little poetic perfection in these matters."

"Did it have to be a Twi'lek that swears her head off and clearly has more mental issues than I do?"

"She's stopped swearing if that helps any."

Azera sighed. Again, there seemed to be little more she could possibly say. "Anything else I should know then? I get the feeling those two are becoming impatient."

"I slowed our passage of time considerably a while ago, they will not notice much of a difference." At that point, the Lady's smile faded. She slowly reached out to Azera's arm, though did not make physical contact that time.

"A while ago, I warned Maarani that spending a night with a Twi'lek named Zariba would lead to many good people losing their lives. I'm afraid that future is still in effect, as I am still getting the feeling of imminent death. I don't know exactly who the good people are, or who will perpetuate their deaths so I cannot ask you to help avert it. Maarani may yet come to blame herself for their deaths however, you must keep her from lapsing into depression again."

"I think I've made it clear by now that I as someone who has perpetrated a great many deaths is not exactly the most sympathetic figure to be supportive of her."

"Try nevertheless. There is only so much I can do in this realm, saving you from Zimorr took a great deal of strength. I cannot fight a darkness that will be responsible for so much death, not enough to prevent it."

"A hint would be something at least, a vague impression."

The Lady tilted her head about in eventual agreement. "It will have something to do with the Jedi Temple. A heart of darkness that has already shown its hand lying dormant. When the gates of wisdom are cast open, the innocents will cry out, and be laid silent by fire."

If Azera could blink, she would have at that exact moment. "Taking the poetry a little seriously."

"This is the nature of impressions of the future. They are not as clear as visions, but both still need interpretation." Her grey marking began to glow. "Speaking of which, I suggest you help Maarani unlock her three visions when you get the chance. I cannot see them for myself, it is down to the both of you to interpret and make sense of what futures they might lead to."

"They're not fixed then? They can be changed or avoided, like the vision of the Red Empress I saw?"

"Nothing is certain until it has already passed, Azera. That is why I remain hopeful you can prevent the death that is soon to come. It may yet be enough for your atonement."

When the Lady finally faded away on that last note, Azera took a cleansing breath and approached the other two Miraluka at last.

As described, they didn't seem to be behaving as if a good few minutes of discussion had passed, so she acted accordingly.

"It's over. All the dark energy I poured into the mask is dead. Nihilus, whomever he used to be has moved on, and I am no longer the White Terror, or Kiarna."

Sereti folded her arms, ignoring the turn of Visas' head. "You're planning to run then?"

"I am still Sith, but I don't believe in owing allegiance to the dark side anymore, not solely. It's going to take a lot of effort, probably a lot of bloodshed to make the others understand and appreciate the change I've gone through, and hopefully to see them go through as well." She took a breath at that.

"The path of the Red Empress leads to a future I don't want. Nihilus also showed me that I would be a Sith'ari considered outcast by all other Sith, past and future. I'm convinced that means destroying the last of the old ways and rebuilding as a more peaceful Empire. With a Sith code built on freedom instead of power or terror, and stronger ties to the light. And I need Maarani to help me achieve that goal, which means undoing all the wrongs I've done with her, and eventually with the Republic and the Jedi."

Before Sereti could voice her obvious protest, Visas motioned for her to remain quiet as she spoke instead. "It all sounds noble, Azera Vass. But I and many others have tried walking the line between the light and the dark. It's difficult for individuals, near impossible for groups, and I can't imagine it's remotely feasible for Sith to constantly resist the temptation."

"The Lady of Balance believes it's possible, and that's enough for me right now. The fact is, even with relaxed rules, the Jedi are too restrictive on a great many things. And there are going to still be rules for a Light Sith order, but they'll be a lot more open. Dark Jedi exist, Light Sith should also be capable of existing. I will make it work someday."

Noting Sereti's continued distrust, she reached one hand up to the other arm across her chest, rubbing up and down in a slow motion to ease some of her own tension. "I can't work towards changing the Sith if I turn myself over to Republic justice. We all know exactly where that leads. I'm not asking for forgiveness, merely an opportunity to try and start making things better, for now and for future generations. If it so happens I need the help of the Jedi, and there is a price to pay after all, so be it. But I would much rather attempt this change before surrendering to execution, for all the empty good it would do."

After a long pause for thought, Sereti finally broke from her firm pose, taking a bit longer to speak. "You did save my life back there, I haven't forgotten that." With another turn to Visas, she finally sighed and relaxed her posture altogether. "Consider letting you go now being part way towards paying that debt. I can't guarantee your safety from other Jedi though, especially not those in Maarani's company."

"I saved Jayden's life back on Arkanis, it's down to Dana forgiving me for the neck shock." Azera made to leave, only to stop at last, half turning to ensure she was heard. "The Lady believes there is an imminent disaster coming, that it will occur at your Temple. She wasn't exactly specific, so you might want to prepare for a lot of potential events. Consider that my show of good faith as it were."

And with that, she was on her way back down towards the ruined city for the path that would lead her back to her ship at last.

Sereti watched her leave for a while before sighing again, not even needing to look at Visas to know what was about to be said. "You're leaving again."

Visas smiled in her own way. "Only for a little while this time. Those others were prepared to die on my behalf, I owe it to them to see that they can begin new lives without concern. I have to undo what I did before I can return to the Temple and feel clean about it."

"So long as I know you are in fact coming back, I can wait a little longer."

"Brianna never wanted to be Grand Master, and so long as the others welcome me back, I think she'll be happy to see someone else take over for her sooner rather than later."

"Perhaps." With that matter on her mind resolved, Sereti turned her attention back to the city again. "I'm still having trouble believing that's the same woman I argued with down on the ascending path. She's completely different."

Visas curled her lip in at that, the smile fading. "When your will is shattered, it is very easy to reshape into something new from a single prompt. It hurts me to say I saw a lot of my young self in her just now. I do hope that she has retained a grip on her direction in life as much as she led us to believe."

"If she hasn't, I think we're still a lot better off without the Lord of Hunger's continued existence, especially since it ended up sparing your sacrifice."

"Time will tell if that is indeed the case. In the meantime, could you be so kind as to ask Aibrehl not to interfere with either one of us departing?"

Sereti fumbled for her holocommunicator while Visas made her departure as well, waiting until she was out of earshot before activating it.

" _We kept reading three life signs after the darkness vanished, but you didn't answer. What happened?_ "

"Uh, a lot of things." Under her breath, she cursed being left with arguably the worst job. "Listen, there's a lot to cover, and some favours to ask…"

* * *

When she noticed the Luka Sene ship on sensors, a moment of concern had taken hold as Azera considered her options. Firing on them, even in defence, would only ruin what little goodwill she had started to garner.

To her great relief, they made no attempt to intercept her, leaving the path out of orbit to free space wide open.

"May there never be a next time."

She flexed her fingers and began setting the ship's navigation computer on a tracking course. The signal from the Distant Star was faint, and some time away, but still actively transmitting.

"Maarani, if we're hearing each other again, and you're just choosing not to speak... I'm sorry for what I've done to you and the others. I'm coming to make things right. Take all the precautions you want, I'm willing to bear with it if you'll hear me out."

She froze in place when the sound of sarcastic clapping rang out from the top of the ascent stairs. Somehow, she had remained completely oblivious to Carudan's continued presence on the ship, and now he had chosen that moment to make his appearance.

"Well done. You fulfilled your end of the bargain, I've learned all I needed to know about Maarani, and you even went and destroyed the greatest threat to life the galaxy has ever seen. You should feel so very proud."

Azera remained in her seat facing away from him, very subtly starting to reach for her lightsaber. "Why did you decide to hide? Did you think having the Lady of Pain stripped from me would change how I felt about our agreement? You've made it clear you're so much more powerful from the start…"

Carudan tutted, wagging a finger on his cybernetic arm. "Tch, and here I was hoping you'd become more insightful. No, no, I now know what Maarani is, and who is pulling her strings. And you see, she really doesn't care for my kind. And now that she's apparently focused on you, I'm going to enjoy some sweet revenge while I can…"

He leapt across the room with great strength, slinging his cyber arm around her neck violently. Had her chair lacked a headrest, it was possible he could have broken her neck outright. The small support it offered in keeping her head from being yanked back was enough for her to react, grabbing her lightsaber and swinging it up past her face right through his shoulder, severing that arm completely.

While she choked for air and scrambled out of her now gouged seat, he had stumbled back, laughing at the gaping wound where his arm had been.

"Oh, bad mistake little Miraluka! I've waited a long time to feel like myself again!"

His face turned to pure grinning malice as his shoulder throbbed, and began to regrow the arm right before her. Instead of taking on the typical humanoid shape however, it had three clawed fingers, and was rather more muscular in build.

He leapt at her again, teeth bared fully. Her lightsaber caught him right across the lower jaw. That seemed to cause a great deal more pain, as he recoiled with an inhuman cry while clutching at his gaping maw.

Azera used that distraction to practically hurl herself down the stairs from the cockpit to the main deck of the ship, still choking for air and feeling a harsh pain in her ankle from the fall.

With Carudan starting to thunder down behind, she dragged herself hurriedly to the nearest airlock.

"Not so fast!"

She yelped when the three fingered hand grabbed her ankle, dragging her away from the airlock controls.

By then, his lower jaw had regrown, now lacking a chin, looking more reptilian on the surface, and bearing a much more threatening array of sharp teeth inside.

Right before being pulled up, she twisted around and lashed with her lightsaber again, this time gouging right through his left eye. It was enough to make him release her, at which point she scrambled for the airlocks again.

"Keep hurting me! I'll keep coming back stronger and stronger!"

With one last desperate action, she hauled herself up and fumbled with the controls. Carudan was swiftly approaching, his eye already starting to grow back.

Right before getting the door open, she gasped in horror as his eye actually started growing further out of his head on a short stalk, more scaled flesh filling in the gouge.

Before he could lunge again, the door flew open, sucking out all the air and occupants into open space.

For a few terrifying moments, she clung onto the very edge of the door, fearful that her hands would slip from her gloves and see her hurled out right after Carudan, who was already spiralling away into the deep void.

By the time the ship had signalled full decompression of the immediate room and the cockpit, she had begun pulling herself back inside, desperately holding onto what oxygen she had left in her body until the door swung shut behind her and allowed repressurization.

She lay there for several minutes, heaving air through her mask, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her twisted ankle, until she finally began making the painful ascent back up to the cockpit.

There was quite a bit of blood splatter from Carudan's wounds now, as well as the gaping hole left in her chair by her lightsaber, the latter of which especially wasn't likely to be repaired anytime soon. And yet, she was hardly even fazed by the mess, despite being meticulous about keeping her ship clean not that long ago.

Once the ship was set on course, she fell back into the seat with a great sigh, letting the hum of the charging hyperdrive settle her for much needed rest.

"Can't feel the Force, eats humans and humanoids. Practically boasting about what he was, all that time." She turned her chair around, almost as if to look back at where Carudan probably was. "Burn in hell you Rakata freak."

When she spun back, she gripped onto either arm of the pilot's chair and sighed again, letting her body rest while the _Vastes_ cruised on in hyperspace towards the _Distant Star_.


	49. Coming Up Deadeye Duncan

"Hey, you heard about the new MX-170's?"

Mason looked up from his data pad while simultaneously loosening the last bolt on a cover panel as Kriege made his way over.

"Yeah. Not sure about them to be honest. The MX-150's have been pretty damn reliable if you ask me."

Kriege had a crate loaded with replacement parts in front of him, which he proceeded to open and begin laying out for organization while Mason worked on removing the now defunct parts from the internals.

"They've also been in use since the Mandalorian Wars. May have gotten some good tech from those days, but it's all starting to show its age."

The procedure was interrupted by a standard alarm going up, while the hangar bays began to grind open, prompting both to look up at the control room.

" _Looks like that medical transport ran into some trouble. Continue with your work, and observe standard boarding protocol when applicable._ "

Kriege gestured acknowledgement to the control officer before returning to the open panel, taking the parts handed off for organization against their replacements.

"At least they work. I don't know who's designing some of this new gear, got a hell of a time making half the bloody stuff work with these systems."

"Well, unless there's another Star Forge out there we have to make do. Can't help that most of this ship was replicated instead of built."

Another alarm went up, this time a tactical one.

"Incoming boarders! Get to battlestations!"

Before Mason or Kriege made it five steps from that spot, the _Distant Star_ hurtled through the closing hangar doors, landing on the deck with a terrific crash of sparks. The auto-cannons fired away, filling the control room, both men and the few others in the general vicinity with holes, fire and smoke.

The boarding ramp came down with a stuttered groan, Jayden first to the deck with her carbine at the ready. Dana followed with her lightsaber, doing a quick sweep of the area before moving out into the open.

"Get those port doors locked. I'm feeling a lot of activity that side."

While Jayden bolted over to do just that, Izan and Cecile descended the ramp, both ready with their respective blasters. The former glanced at some of the bodies, and for a moment had to cover his mouth with his arm to keep from vomiting at the grotesque sight.

"I thought the cannons wouldn't leave so much behind!"

Dana was still unfazed by the mess, stepping over the charred corpses. "We did revert them to tight firing. There's gonna be a lot of that before we're done."

As if to prove her point, the first wave of troopers came. Dana was ready for them her lightsaber cutting through metal and flesh with a grating whine. Three of them fell in pieces before the rest fell back to defensive positions, giving her time to motion at the door controls and shut it for the moment.

"Cecile! Izan! Get ready!" She motioned to her own positions for them to take up, moving away from hers to ensure that the troopers would not get a quick shot on her once the doors opened back up.

Jayden was sprinting back over when Dana signalled for the next attack. As soon as the doors opened, a thermal charge was lobbed through the gap, followed up by a volley of blaster fire.

"Down!"

She kicked the grenade hurriedly while diving for cover, leaving it to shower the deck in a sizzling ball of fire that ate away the markings on the deck and virtually every crate and contents that had been left in the vicinity.

They returned the favour, causing a mad sprint in the might tighter confines of the corridor beyond. A burst of flame flared through the opening, after which Jayden dashed up to begin picking off any that remained. When it looked clear, she signalled for the doors to be opened the rest of the way.

Dana kept her lightsaber ready as she advanced forward, motioning for the others to follow. "Alright, stay close, be ready for Sith, and don't hesitate on a kill shot. We are not fighting street thugs and pirates here."

* * *

Since Sloane had last left the room in a seeming hurry, the most Maarani had heard was an alarm some minutes later, two platoons thundering past the door, and then a shipwide message about boarders. By then, she was completely dull to the fact that it meant impending rescue. All that concerned her was the brief reprieve from Sloane's torture, and the implication that she'd be tortured even more as an inevitable hostage soon enough.

Right on cue, the doors opened to the white haired sorcerer, who strode across the room in a manner that made the slap of her feet against the floor echo about, came right up to the table Maarani was still strapped to and grabbed her fiercely by the chin.

"Call them off!"

"Go to hell." She didn't smile, or even attempt to smirk. For once, her insults were intended to be taken quite seriously. "What is hell anyway? No-one ever explains what it actually means."

Sloane sneered, digging her nails in to the brink of breaking skin. "Every death on this ship will be on your head! Tell them to stand down and I let you go unharmed!"

"Sith always lie. I've got so much blood on my hands I don't care anymore. You've made sure of that."

She quivered just a little when those nails did finally cut in, leaving warm trails down her jawline. Her expression held in spite of that. Nicks on her face were nothing compared to what had amounted to hours of electrocution.

On the verge of delivering another jolt out of anger, Sloane whipped her hand away and gestured to her lightsaber instead, raising it right above Maarani's neck. "Your head it is then!"

Maarani exhaled silently in that moment as she heard the hum of the lightsaber coming down. After all she had been through, to meet her end while lying on a cold table in her underwear, minutes before her friends actually got through to rescuing her.

* * *

"Great plan Dana! Now we're stuck!"

The bulkhead behind them had locked down as soon as they passed through, undoubtedly the result of some coordination from the bridge to the defending troopers. All four of them were tightly pressed into what cover they could get as at least a dozen of them fired down the corridor. Even Cecile was actively afraid of taking potentially destructive shots.

"If you think this is what stuck looks like Izan-!"

"Both of you shut up! Dana, you're the better blaster deflector of us, just get me enough time to pick a couple of them off-"

"I can't deflect this many at once! And no I am not using Vahla magic to get us out of this! That's the first thing about dabbling with the dark side that they teach you!"

"Oh yeah, this is totally a dabbling situation!"

"Not the time Izan!"

"Well we'd better think of something-"

Jayden was cut off mid sentence as a different grenade was lobbed right in front of them. This time, she wasn't given time to kick it away, as it detonated virtually on impact, discharging a hard EMP field on all four of them.

She screeched in agony as it wreaked havoc on her leg, causing her to collapse to the floor while the internals groaned and grated, the foot jerking about violently.

Cecile had a similar reaction, wailing in a robotic tone as her limbs flailed about from the overwhelming effect on her systems.

Despite her insistence just moments earlier, Dana threw out a plume of white fire to give them a few seconds reprieve from the suppressing volley, long enough for her and Izan to hastily get Jayden back into cover while she clutched at her malfunctioning leg. Standing there was the most she could do, leaving them with quickly diminishing options as the wall of fire fizzled out.

"Great, just great! One droidpopper and half the rescue team is screwed!"

"Izan would you just stop for once!"

"Initializing DCE defence protocol; hostiles detected."

The three looked at Cecile, who was striding out into the open, her eyes flicking on and off constantly. Her posture had changed entirely from cowering and mostly fretful hiding to full on military mode.

Before the first blaster shot grazed off her shoulder, she began firing. One shot for every Imperial trooper in sight, all right through the head. Clean kills all around.

She stood there for several seconds after, a few smoking holes in her chest and torso, but nothing that had actually penetrated the outer plating of her chassis.

"Hostiles eliminated, reinitializing child care protocol."

When several more seconds passed without sign of follow-up from the Imperials, Dana finally leaned out of cover to take a breath. "Teegs mentioned to me one time that Cecile had been hit with an EMP before, something Carmen told her anyway. I guess we know why…"

Cecile turned her head, her eyes no longer flickering. "What? I have no recollection of being attacked until this mission of yours. And what happened to our attackers anyway?"

Dana cast a knowing look at Izan before hurrying over to Jayden's side again. She had managed to detach her leg in the meantime, though the pain caused by the surge had kept her from actually checking for damage.

"We took out a platoon, still no Sith. Where are they all? Where's Sloane?"

"Probably guarding Teegs." Dana was quick to remove the armor from the synthetic leg, being more careful when it came to the cover itself to avoid damaging it by mistake. A cursory glance didn't turn up any physical damage in the mechanisms. "I'm not seeing anything to be worried about. Let's just give it a minute to discharge and-"

The clunk of a large droid approaching made her drop the leg and rush back to cover along with the others. She had forgotten momentarily that there was a sentinel contingent on board as well.

Right as it came into view, guns at the ready, Cecile stepped back out into the open.

"Fancy meeting you again! Hail to the Empire!"

The sentinel droid was momentarily perplexed by encountering the same droid from before, about to question the occurrence in Binary when four blaster shots tore right through its computing unit.

Cecile remained motionless while it dropped to the floor, until she felt it was time to do a little spin of her blaster set.

"A pity, I quite liked his peculiar dialect."

Izan just shook his head in disbelief before moving up to a more defensive position, leaving Dana to return to Jayden's leg.

"If they are actually guarding Teegs, we'll have to play it smart. If we turn a corner and gun down Sloane's adopted sons by mistake…"

Jayden rubbed at the stump of her leg, having done her best to remain quiet while she waited for her mobility to be returned. "Fine, you point them out, I'll knock their heads in, lightly. I don't think either of them will want to go head first against Sith anyway. Incidentally why the hell didn't you bring this up back when we were planning this?"

With a roll of her eyes, Dana clamped the armor piece back onto her leg and brought it up to reconnect with Jayden herself. "I thought they'd come after us first, we'd cut them down and move on. I don't want Sloane getting ideas when she finds out we just slaughtered them right outside wherever it is she has Teegs locked up."

"Oh yes, she's not going to be bloodthirsty enough with all the bodies we've left so far." After a harsh wince as the leg was reconnected at last, Jayden cautiously put weight onto it until the mechanisms kicked in properly. She sighed in great relief at that.

"She's from Revan's era of Sith. They don't care about the mountains of bodies they climb to their positions, only the ones they bring to their level."

* * *

It took a little while for her to breathe in, and realize that she was in fact still capable of breathing.

The lightsaber was hovering just above her neck, held firmly in place despite how hard Sloane's hand was shaking around it. Her lips were taut in a fierce snarl. She was trying to physically push the blade down against the unseen force keeping it at bay.

 _You will not harm her further Sloane!_

Maarani scrunched her eyes shut as the lightsaber flew up over her face, hearing a loud hissing sound before it actually exploded, leaving Sloane in utter shock.

At the same time, the clamps binding her to the table unlatched. She seized the opportunity by twisting up into a charge right for Sloane, throwing her arm against her throat until she had her pinned against the wall, ready to crush her windpipe if given the chance.

"Guess you got the Lady's attention huh?" As much as she wanted to gesture over at her own lightsaber and have it fly into her hand for dramatic effect, it didn't budge from its position even a little.

 _I cannot protect you for long Maarani. Use this time wisely._

Sloane wasn't even attempting to push her off physically. Clearly there was more to her shock than just the destruction of her lightsaber. After days of torture, she was in full control of the situation at last. And her desire for a great moment had inspired her next words.

"Restore my connection to the Force, and I'll make sure we leave without any more deaths. Kiarna told me that Lasidia could do it back on Sarka. You've been around long enough, I reckon you can do it as well."

The sound of more troops rushing past outside drew Sloane's attention momentarily. More lives to be wasted.

"Stop the killing first."

Maarani pressed her arm in, causing the Sith to choke in an irony that made her grin. "Do it quickly and less Imperials die. Until they get here, they'll just assume I'm being mind tricked and luring them into a trap."

"I can't do it quickly! I don't even know what cut you off from the Force in the first place! Those reports weren't shared out!"

"Eight years ago I crashed on an isolated planet, right after watching my family die! That's what cut me off!"

That made Sloane hiss as she struggled to breathe properly, only to settle down a little as she thought it over, finally tilting her head back to Maarani. "That can't be the case. The Exile cut herself off because of overwhelming death and destruction. The trauma of losing family is simply nothing in comparison to mass genocide."

When Maarani finally began to falter, easing off her throat enough to inhale properly, she wrested herself free and rubbed at the bruised mark now left on her neck. "A hard crash wouldn't do it either. So again, I cannot fix a wound I don't know anything about."

Despite her moment of doubt, Maarani kept her priorities straight, watching Sloane carefully while moving to retrieve her lightsaber. "Bastila had doubts about it as well." Seeing that they were at a stalemate for the time being, she took that window to think on another answer. Something to get out of the whole mess.

"Fine, you wanted to dig around in my head? Maybe I wasn't completely unconscious on that island, maybe I've got more holes in my memory I don't know. You dig that one up, and I'll call that even instead. I'll just go elsewhere to have my head fixed. And maybe while I'm at it I'll ask the Lady to not make your head explode like she did your lightsaber."

Sloane turned her head to the twisted remains of her weapon, and nervously swallowed.

* * *

Dana gave a count of five, then raised her lightsaber and spun around the corner.

"Hey! Get off your asses and do something!"

Night looked to Bitter, who was already going for his own lightsaber, then reached for his own with a smirk.

"Good, been a long while since we've gotten to make a Jedi scream."

"You said it brother."

They didn't make it a step forward before Jayden smacked their heads together with a fierce blow, causing both to crumple to the floor while the respective gashes on their skulls began to seep blood onto the floor.

Dana rolled her eyes before stepping over them to get at the door controls. "You sure they're not dead?"

Jayden nudged Night with her left foot. "They look like they've been through worse. What do we do with them after we've got Teegs?"

"Leave them of course. We're not here to assassinate Sith. And besides, it's murder if they can't defend themselves."

By that point, Izan had come around the corner, and the sheer callousness of Dana's tone made him scoff in disgust.

"Being unconscious is the line Jedi draw? Not at normal troopers who don't stand a chance against the powers of the Force? Or does being able to hold a blaster really make the difference to you people?"

That made Dana sigh in annoyance as she continued to work at the controls. "Izan, unlike most, we have to live by hard definitions, no vague areas. Doing nothing means we become like the old Jedi, ready to let the Republic die at the hands of an enemy they can't fight. So we have to treat every single enemy we face as a target to be destroyed, regardless of their capability. We can't go around waving our hands and hoping on the chance that they're not trained to resist being tricked into sleep or surrender."

At that point, Jayden rolled her eyes and grabbed hold of the door, ready to force it open. "If you've been at it long enough to make a speech, you're done trying to slice it open." While waiting for the others to get into position, Cecile still guarding the corridors, she glared at Izan's continued disapproval. "Consider that not so long ago, Mandalorians would just kill anything that they felt made for good sport. Times change."

"That's not even my point Jayden, but what do I know?"

Jayden gripped on hard, and with a nod to the others, grunted while physically pushing the doors open against the grinding of mechanisms in the walls.

Sloane whipped around as soon as she heard the intrusion, very hurriedly moving to the other side of the table that Maarani had laid back down on. She hadn't even sensed their arrival, no doubt thanks to the Lady's intervention still at work.

Before things turned to disaster, Maarani was leaning back up to stop Dana from outright killing Sloane as she charged in. "Stop stop! I need her alive!"

Izan and Cecile weren't far behind, coming to a stop behind Dana while she looked on in shock. Jayden moved past all three, keeping her carbine levelled right at Sloane's head.

"You need her alive? After what she's done to you?"

"Yes, yes I damn well do." Maarani glared right at Dana, having lost sight of just how bad she probably looked at that moment. Appearing maddened wasn't a factor to her anymore. "I need to know how I lost my Force connection. And Sloane can't hurt me while the Lady of Balance has her attention here. And seeing as the Jedi won't tell me…"

Dana looked over at Sloane, for a moment surprised that Izan's description was actually spot on, then back at Maarani. "We never knew, Teegs. Quite a few Jedi went to investigate that island, they found nothing. There was nothing to tell."

"A Jedi who didn't look hard enough. I'm so shocked."

Jayden took a step closer towards Sloane at that, still keeping her carbine aimed true, regardless of the insistence on keeping her alive. "Coming from a Sith who can't see properly."

Maarani rolled her eyes while lying back down on the table. "Everyone shut up and let her get on with it. I'm not going back to Coruscant or whatever for this."

"Teegs I still think this is a bad idea."

"I don't care, I am so done with not getting answers."

"And quite literally letting a Sith who was torturing you these past few days is the way to get them?"

Sloane took a small breath, approaching the table again in spite of the glare she was getting from Jayden. Her hand extended out over Maarani's face to get another reading on her mental scape.

"I am not barbaric, or sadistic, I had my reasons. I don't trust the Lady of Balance, and if you Jedi had any common sense you'd be afraid of her as well. The fact that I am more afraid of an entity I cannot see at all versus the Mandalorian aiming a blaster at my head should say something."

"Just get on with it."

In the midst of it all, Sloane set her attention on Izan while lowering her hand down just above Maarani's face. "You at least were smart enough to take an offer for what it was. Shame you weren't smarter still to know not to bother retrieving these two."

Before the bickering could continue, she brought her fingertips down into contact with her face. Immediately she could feel things were different. Either the Lady was still inhibiting her, or she had stopped protecting Maarani's mind at last.

It didn't take long to find her way towards the memory in question, at which point she inhaled sharply.

"This is a fierce memory block. It'd take a very powerful Force user to place it."

Dana tightened her lip in sad realization. That was one confirmation she didn't want. However implausible it seemed, if really had gone down as Maarani imagined all that time…

"Break it. I need to remember. I need to find out who did this to me."

After a deep breath, Sloane pressed her hand down more firmly, opening up the mental connection. "You do realize that being cut off from the Force is an incredibly traumatic experience. I'm not responsible for the damage this will do."

"If she screams…"

"I'm making myself clear to the Lady, Mandalorian."

Maarani took a breath at last, closing her eyes under the bright light above, and casting her mind back eight years, waiting for that revelation at long last.

* * *

 _A few hours out from Dalchon, I was running low on oxygen. The Rodian didn't tell me the scrubbers were faulty._

Events transpired just as she had recalled many times before. Staring down at the warning lights, desperately searching for a breathable planet to set down on, eventually leaving the Corellian Run altogether in desperation.

The world that she had eventually come across was dominated by a very wide landmass, mostly in the southern hemisphere. Her skill with flying ships was very limited however, and the prevailing weather that resulted from such a skewed landscape forced her further and further out towards the coast as she descended through the atmosphere.

 _The ship wasn't stable, I was losing control, I…_

So many times she had recounted ploughing into the ground, and waking up in a sprawl just beside the ship, with her connection to the Force gone.

Not that time.

 _I landed?_

For the first time since the occurrence, it no longer had the vague feeling of a memory. It had feeling to it, a strong vividness to the biting cold air and sharp droplets of sprinkling rain as she clambered out of the shuttle, gasping for air as her body desperately tried to detoxicate itself from the buildup of carbon dioxide.

"Hello there?"

Tegama came out of her coughing fit with confusion at hearing a man's voice. Moreso when a figure appeared on the ridge to her right, carrying a spear in his right hand. Wrapped in brown fabric from head to toe, save for the eyes, the cloak and hood kept her from seeing any notable physical features. She didn't like the look of him at all, but then he had called out first, rather than catching her by surprise.

At that point, she decided to ask the obvious question. "Who are you?"

The man remained silent, gazing at her with faint yellow eyes that bore a tired look to them. Not quite fatigued, more as if he had seen many things, but was not yet ready to close his eyes forever.

Eventually he moved a bit closer, using the spear in the manner of a long walking stick, but not actually leaning on it for support. Even his hands were wrapped up, save for the very tips of his fingers, pale as the skin around his eyes.

"You are very young for a star traveller. What brings you here?"

Tegama coughed again, more from the lump in her throat resurfacing, as did the flow of tears as she was painfully reminded of why she had fled Ryloth. It was quickly becoming too much for her to bear.

"I don't know. I don't know!"

The man returned to silence for a while as she sobbed, just gazing out over the seas stretching out to the horizon, the mainland behind him. When the tears stopped again, he turned back to her, gesturing his other hand to the path he had come from.

"I have fish and tea to offer. You must calm yourself before travelling again. Decide in your own time."

He turned back in a great stride, the spear clunking against the cold stones as he hiked down the incline without a further thought.

Tegama remained huddled there against the ship for a long while, staring ahead while the waves crashed against the shores some distance below, the wind howled around the craft, and the faint sound of terrified cries of anguish continued to ring in her ears.

When she did get up, it was with more than a few stumbles, lekku tucked into her jacket and arms clutched around them tightly to keep what warmth she could while trying to find her way down the incline. There was virtually no path of any kind to be seen, only the trampled grass where water droplets had been disrupted to guide her way down.

It took her longer still to find the cave that the stranger had turned into a hovel. The door itself was little more than scavenged driftwood tied with grass and sealed by dried kelp. It had also been left wide open, allowing her to peer inside at the fire-lit cave itself.

The apparent owner was sitting by the fire at that point, apparently having started a new brew right after returning based on the faint aroma. As mentioned, there was also a smell of cooked fish about.

With a nervous swallow, she brushed her lekku back over her shoulders and made her way inside.

"Please do not touch the holocrons. The rest I am not as concerned with."

That made Tegama tense, until she very slowly looked to her direct left. A shelf bearing quite a few technical devices was sitting there, held against the wall by rods that comfortably sat in holes drilled by blaster fire. On them were indeed a number of holocrons, two of them notably pyramid shaped, and red.

Many times her mother had warned all four of them about the dangers of such holocrons, and their presence in the cave alongside Jedi ones made her more than a little wary.

"You recognize the repositories of Sith knowledge?"

Tegama stared at them for a while, then nervously nodded.

"Good, more encouragement to not touch them. I do not care for their screeching." He reached a spoon into the pot, stirring it a couple of times before tapping it on the edge and setting it aside. "I also do not care for the long-winded Jedi gatekeepers. Both take far too long to go to sleep. And none will have anything of worth to say to you I'm certain."

With another glance at them, she moved further inside, and finding no seats of any kind, finally knelt down near the fire, very much opposite the stranger. In the darker light, his eyes looked as if they had an uncanny glow to them.

The fire was notably warm, enough to make her huddle a little less and actually start drying off. She still kept the jacket tightly closed up nonetheless.

There was yet more silence for a while, broken only when the stranger opposite moved to stir the pot again, tapping it three times once done on every single occasion. The coverings over his mouth remained, with no indication that he had any intention of removing it.

After some time, when the aroma from the pot had cleared her nose, Tegama breathed in, and finally decided to ask her question again.

"Who are you?"

That time, he made eye contact with her only briefly, a glimmer flashing over his irises, something she put down to being a spark from the fire.

"A man. A man with nothing left but distant memories. A singular purpose, a lost legacy, a deep loneliness. I stopped caring about identity many years ago."

Tegama tightened her lips, silently breathing in. The distant voices had faded away, leaving a more eerie silence in her mind. It took her a few moments to realize he was very lightly reading her thoughts. Clearing them of the anguish she was in. When the voices returned again, she guessed that he had noticed her awareness, based on the way he sat up after.

"Are you Jedi? Are you Sith?"

The man finally blinked, then looked at her directly again. "I would ask you those same questions, and I feel I would get an identical answer. The Force moves in many many ways. Some mysterious, some obvious, some deceptive, and some introspective. It does not care for labels in the end, it knows its own existence and that is all that matters to it."

After a sigh, Tegama returned to huddling. A philosophical debate about the nature of the Force with a strange hermit was about the last thing she wanted.

That was also something that he took notice of. "Perhaps I was once a man of ambition, a man who felt his vision for the future was paramount. Does former status matter if a one-time galactic king is reduced to living in a hovel in Coruscant's depths? What we were is irrelevant to what we are, what we become."

He leaned forward just a little, narrowing those looming eyes in a stern gaze. "Ask yourself that, Twi'lek. What will you become? What will make you choose to return to the galaxy and continue existing? What drives you? These are not questions to ask of others, they are to be asked of oneself."

Shortly after, he moved to stand, motioning to the spoon while moving past to the doorway, picking up his spear from where he had left it.

"Fish is all I can provide for sustenance. There are no other creatures on this island. Not anymore." At the doorway he stopped, taking another opportunity to gauge the weather patterns. "I never did care for fungus, not like some I knew."

He left the door wide open, leaving Tegama alone in the cave with only her thoughts, troubled as they were. There she was, sitting on an isolated planet in the miserable home of a mysterious man, without a clue as to where she could possibly go other than the funeral of nearly her entire family.

Some time passed before she finally decided to reach into her jacket, and draw out the incomplete mess that was her lightsaber. With a soft click, she lifted off the covering to look at her lightsaber crystal, still glistening red even in the fire light. Perfectly shaped as it had always been from the moment she had plucked it from the Cave of Sorrows, so named for an old Twi'lek legend she had paid little heed to when exploring.

All those memories of listening to her mother teaching the others about the meanings of lightsaber colours. How each correlated to a Jedi specialization, and represented the person within. Why red was so popular with the Sith, and why very few Jedi had ever received it as their natural colour.

More time passed before she stopped staring at it, and glanced back at the holocrons on the shelf. All of them had taken on a more sinister look under the growing darkness of an incoming storm. Sitting there, lying dormant, in what she couldn't help but begin to imagine was akin to a trapdoor gutkurr. Waiting for someone who didn't know better to touch them. She didn't know if she was more frightened of the Sith or the Jedi ones.

With a shudder, she instead thought about what she had been told to ask herself again, hoping to take her mind off that. What purpose did she really have? She had been told not to get her hopes up about joining the Jedi from a young age, and without any guidance left in her life, that seemed like tragically sound advice.

And yet, despite how much temptation there was to get angry at the Sith, and go out to hunt down the young woman in white and red that she had glimpsed at that massacre, it never felt like something she truly wanted to pursue. So many stories of the old Jedi and Sith wars told to them all by her mother, of downfall and despair, now coming back in a hauntingly relevant way.

It hadn't yet occurred to her that it was possibly more than a coincidence that she had landed there, until she had thought about those stories again. All the times that her father had interjected, saying how what seemed strange was really the Force at work, ensuring that the unusual and unexpected occurred with purpose.

Perhaps she really was meant to land on that island, meet the sole inhabitant of a lonely planet, and face the paths laid out before her.

Despite all the times she had been told not to follow the teachings of the Sesk'nabsilai, that was all she felt she had left to call on. No help from the Jedi was coming, and she certainly would never take anything from the Sith.

"Please, Goddess, help me. Help me."

A bolt of lightning cracked outside, signalling the onset of the storm.

The crystal in her lightsaber began to faintly glow.

 _That which does not exist cannot help you, Tegama._

A fierce chill went through her lekku, leaving the tips feeling icy. The voice was both unknown, and yet vaguely familiar. And it terrified her.

She yelped when she felt water seeping around her fingers, rolling away in a panic. One thing she had noticed was that the doorway sloped down outside, meaning it was impossible for puddles to be forming around her from rainfall alone.

With what light there was, she managed to get a look at her fingertips. The 'water' on them was a rich crystal blue, completely unnatural.

 _So many rivers of tears to drown in._

Tegama grabbed at her lightsaber in desperation, having not realized how much brighter the glow of the crystal had gotten, and whipped around to escape through the doorway of the cave. Instead, she screamed in terror.

Standing there was the dark shape of a Twi'lek woman, crystal blue water seeping from her fiery Sith eyes, dripping down over her form in rivulets that congealed around her feet. The light that reached her hands showed green skin, bearing many many Sith tattoos.

 _Your time in the light is over Tegama. The galaxy at large will know Sorrow soon enough._

There was little rational thought in Tegama's mind as she charged right through the apparition of the Lady of Sorrows out into the tearing winds and rain. All of the warmth she had gained sapped away immediately. She was shivering by the time she began desperately clambering back up the slope against the slippery grass and flows of water running over it. The only thing on mind was getting back in the ship and making for Arkanis, regardless of whether she had enough oxygen for a safe trip or not.

At the moment she unlocked the cabin shroud, the thrusters detonated.

The force of the blast threw her back down to the rocky plateau in a great plume of fire that made the air hiss as it evaporated many puddles surrounding.

Her lightsaber had clattered well out of reach by then, leaving her sprawled out over mud, stone and grass in a crumpled mess, growing colder than ever from the continued rain.

It wasn't long before she felt herself being rolled onto her back, groaning in pain, completely incapable of doing anything else.

"A pity to squander such raw potential. But I am not ready to counteract the threat you pose. Not yet…"

The stranger unwrapped the cloth around his right hand, bearing more of that sickly pale skin as he brought it over Tegama's face.

"You will not find healing from the light of others, nor the darkness within. We will meet again, and I will begin your training when we do."

His fingers made contact with the five key points of her face as the mind invasion began. Piece by piece, he began blocking her mind off from the Force with every method he had ready in mind.

All Tegama could do was scream in agony as her perception of the universe around was taken from her. No more distant voices of the Jedi, no more greater understanding of cosmic happenings, no more Force.

* * *

Maarani broke out of the trance just in time to see Jayden's fist connect with Sloane's cheek.

She made a strange gulping sound, twisted around on the spot, and promptly landed on the floor with a sick thud.

With a deep inhale, Maarani clutched at the side of her head and tried not to scream more. "Oh my fucking Goddess why did you just kill her!?"

"Why does everyone assume I kill people by punching them?"

"Well you did decapitate a cyborg that one time-"

Dana rather forcibly elbowed Izan for that while reaching out to offer what comfort she could to Maarani. "Did it work? Do you remember what happened?"

By then, the confusion, shock and pain had driven her to a frantic state, bordering on maniacal. "The Jedi found nothing huh? There was a man living on that island! He had holocrons and who knows what else, and they found nothing!?"

"Teegs-"

"Hostiles approaching Mistress!"

There was an exchange of glances between the four, all of Maarani's still very much enraged. Dana peered over at Sloane's unconscious form, then sighed in a bothered tone.

"Internal sensors must've seen her lifesigns go down. We need to leave."

"Oh yeah, great work Jayden! Knock out the one person who'd let us walk out of here!"

"You were screaming Maarani! I did warn her that if you-"

"And she warned you that I'd probably scream from remembering! Guess who was right!"

Blaster fire between Cecile and the latest wave of assailants put the argument to an end. There would undoubtedly be far more said between them all eventually, but that had to wait.

"Alright. Izan has your blaster. Just please stay close, you're in no condition to fight on your own."

"I know what condition I'm in, Dana." She grabbed her lightsaber and slipped off the table to retrieve her blaster from Izan, who still looked rather cross from the elbowing, not that she cared any. "Let me guess, you haven't found my clothes."

"Your jacket's still on the ship."

Maarani shoved past, activating her lightsaber and holding it ready while Dana and Jayden went ahead to the doorway where Cecile was still holding troopers off. It wasn't long before they fell back upon seeing the Jedi returning to the defence.

When they drew closer as well, Izan very lightly rested a hand on Maarani's shoulder. "Just don't run ahead okay?"

A glare was all he got in response, causing him to shrug in bothered defeat and head on past. By then, the two had pushed out into the hallway, Cecile keeping near Dana with her cover fire. He went to support Jayden.

Maarani got barely a few steps outside before stopping to stare at the two on the floor. Seeing their positions so perfectly reversed was too much to ignore.

By the time Dana took notice, she had already aimed her blaster at Bitter's chest.

"Teegs leave them."

Her hand tightened around her blaster.

"You don't know what they threatened to do to me."

"Teegs that doesn't matter. This is not the Jedi way, it's-"

A single blaster shot rang out, causing Jayden and Izan to glance back briefly. Dana clenched her hand tightly, looking at the smoking hole in Bitter.

Maarani's dead cold look didn't waver as she stepped over his corpse, glaring right at her. "You don't get to judge me Dana. Not after what I've been through."

She didn't even stop to look at Night, moving past Cecile with an equally cold shoulder. When a trooper glanced around the corner ahead, she took her forehead out with a single blast.

Dana tightened the grip on her lightsaber as her teeth clenched, letting her own emotion drain away before motioning for the others to follow. "You three get to the secondary control systems, get the hangar doors open. I'll keep Teegs from getting herself shot, and maybe think about taking out the energy dampening net while I'm at it."

With a cautionary glance over at Maarani, Jayden nodded, regripping her carbine. "Meet you back at the ship then. Watch your back."

While she went off after her, Cecile shuffled back to lead them ahead, recalling her scans of the ship once more.

"Secondary control systems will be heavily defended. And I am not equipped to slice remotely."

Izan jogged up after remembering to confiscate the lightsabers from both Sith, tossing them into an alcove nearby. "I'm no expert, but I can give it a shot. Just need to find some tunnelers and-"

He stopped upon feeling a blaster pistol nudge against his head, quickly dropping his own and raising his hands.

By the time Jayden took notice and span around, Caura already had him completely vulnerable.

"Try anything and the pinkskin dies."

That made Izan roll his eyes. "For the last time…" In a swift move, he flipped his arm around and yanked her wrist until the blaster dropped, then swung his fist right into her face. The crunch of cartilage against his knuckles made him wince, but the sight of seeing her collapse to the floor with a bloodied nose almost made the pain worthwhile. "Don't call me pinkskin. Damn racists."

Jayden raised an eyebrow, barely stopping herself from smirking. "Well handled."

"I don't have a problem with punching women who try to kill me. That and it's not the first time someone's been dumb enough to get right up close with a blaster." He knelt down to retrieve his, kicking her's away for spite. "Should've pulled a vibrosword instead."

"She's not carrying one."

He glanced down at her, seeing that Jayden was in fact correct, then shrugged. "I swear it feels like they just pull them out of thin air sometimes."

Jayden rolled her eyes while motioning for them to continue. "I'm sure there's a locker we can bust open for tunnelers then. Don't know why Dana bothered trying to get the door open without one."

* * *

There was a flare of energy whenever Maarani's lightsaber cleaved through a Sith trooper, an extra spark of sorts to the unstable blade that was barely holding its shape. A menacing screech that matched her cold glare a little too well. The blaster shots on those she couldn't reach simply completed her drive for death.

The only comfort Dana could find in it all was that none of it was actively corrupting Maarani. So long as she remained cut off, the dark side couldn't work its way into permanently changing her. But then, it was only a very small comfort in the end.

"Teegs we're headed this way!"

Maarani made a point of decapitating the next two troopers and gunning down a third before even turning to look at Dana. "That one bruised a rib when he kicked me."

"Look, you'll have to let go of this at some point. We can't go and take down every single Imperial on the ship!"

"Watch me."

Dana threw caution to the wind, gesturing at a nearby storage door to force it open so she could physically haul Maarani inside. At the very least, they wouldn't be hit by surprise attacks from down either corridor.

"Teegs, this has to stop. We are here to get you out, not to enable you to go into excess killing. Murdering a Sith is one thing, but-"

Maarani pushed herself free of the hold with a disgruntled growl, not even trying to hide her contempt. "Don't lecture me. Not after you've been lying, and trying to cover up the lying with alternate stories of how things happened." Both hands were growing pale from how tightly they had clenched onto each weapon. "I'm not going back to the Jedi. I'm done with all of that crap."

That made Dana tighten her grip more, that concerned look fading briefly as she came to that realization. "You are not joining the Sith. If you think murdering the crew of an entire ship will prove something to them, you're wrong."

An eye twitch later, and a hint of violet had started to edge in on Maarani's eyes. "Are you going to really try and stop me? I'm fatebound to the White Terror. Being dark is literally in my blood thanks to you."

The grip on her arms tightened, Dana herself having to walk a very fine line of her own. "Lasidia is out for your head, as is Kiarna, not to mention Sloane for murdering one of her sons. You really couldn't have picked a worse time."

"And what if I just decide to take them out as well, hm? I am done flailing around the galaxy getting nothing but misery and dead friends for my efforts. I have sacrificed so much, and had so much taken away from me, I have nothing left but myself. Funny how the one who cut me off from the Force was actually doing me a big favour in the end, and is the only one to have given me good advice; to think about my own future first."

Dana finally released her grip, looking down in defeat. Her hands clenched in as she looked back up, then gave a spiteful shrug.

"Fine, go get yourself killed or whatever. You gave the _Distant Star_ to Izan, you can keep this one." She began making her way back out, taking a cautionary glance into the corridor again before departing. "I'm sure your parents would be so proud to see you now."

There was no further word from Maarani. By then she was fuming, and undoubtedly anything said then and there couldn't be taken back.

When she felt ready to move at last, she did so without a moment's caution, headed back down the way they had come in search of the officer lockers to rearm and clothe herself properly. What little concern there was for her actions was now long gone.

* * *

"Hurry up Izan!"

"I'm trying! Who even programs their locking system with math puzzles?"

He winced and yanked his hand back when the panel zapped him. It was strong enough to leave a sore black mark on his finger, which he sucked at briefly to try and ease the heat before delving back in.

The exchange of blaster fire wasn't helping his concentration by any means. Though the assault had slowed somewhat, probably from the ship running out of troopers to throw at them.

"You sure Cecile can't take a crack at it?"

"No good! I was right, there's anti-droid measures all wired up in here! And I guess anti-idiot measures too seeing as I can't break this!"

Jayden rolled her eyes after picking off yet another trooper, adding to the collecting mess at the end of her corridor. "Fine, read it out to me!"

"Uh, need to complete this set of integers, each corresponds to a pre-determined… what?"

"What is it?"

"I have no idea what this word is! Arithma-something-something."

Cecile fired off a volley while turning her head to look at the panel. "Answer 23, 11 48 and 9 respectively."

"How do you even-"

"They didn't account for a droid reading it instead of mechanically slicing in."

The matching door slid open once he keyed it all in, much to his surprise. "Huh." He closed the panel back up and made for it, slipping into the more secure space of the control room. Several technicians who had apparently been kept at their stations in the crisis had abandoned them at the last moment, and were making for a smaller room further in.

"Jayden!" He waves his blaster at them once they stopped running, waiting for Jayden to pick out a wall to keep them lined up against before he could get to work.

Both she and Cecile weren't far behind, the latter taking up position at the doorway itself. Once the technicians were secure and out of his way, he made for the nearest terminal and began loading it with the tunnelers they had scrounged up.

"Alright, we came in on the port side, right?"

"Starboard!"

"Okay starboard!" The array of command systems was incredibly overwhelming to see at first. So many different functions routed through that one room, and messing around with too many of them by mistake would certainly see them shut down altogether.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the locker rooms were deserted thanks to the ongoing crisis, and more importantly most, if not all were unlocked thanks to the sudden nature of it. It hadn't taken long at all to track down a female officer's uniform that fit her, which brought with it a comfort from the colder temperatures of the ship that she had wanted for days now.

For the first time in a while, she smiled just a little at how well it seemed to suit her once it was on. Her mother had kept the one she wore back during her time on Korriban, only the previously uncomfortable memories were starting to take a new light. It was just cloth and metal in the end, what it meant was entirely down to the observer, nothing more.

And she felt deserving of recognition and status beyond a disgraced pilot.

"Hey! Why aren't you-"

She turned around hastily, having momentarily left her blaster in the locker. Another woman who definitely wasn't just borrowing her uniform and Major rank plaque had entered the doorway, and the way she reached for her stun baton indicated she wasn't about to believe there was a Twi'lek officer in the ranks.

"It's only fair, I still haven't been given my pants back!"

Her hand swiped for her blaster, only Karren was faster and fired at the door, slamming it shut with a hot sizzle of burned metal.

Rather than trying to fumble it open while still hot, Maarani instead went for the next locker and slapped a shield generator on herself, using the few blasts it blocked to charge in and kick the baton out of her hand.

"Those really hurt you know!"

Karren tilted her head at what she guessed was supposed to be a witty comeback, utterly failing as such, and decided to give a proper one of her own. "Yeah, so does this!"

Her fist socked Maarani right in the left rib where she had seen previous bruising during her routine patrol of the cell block, readying another strike when she faltered back in pain.

While Maarani did back off a step, it was only out of mild discomfort as her pain receptors had been well worn by days of torture, leaving her to swing right back for Karren's jaw and following up with a fierce grapple to slam her into the wall behind.

It was then that Karren went for her lekku, digging her nails in and pulling on them as hard as she could, counting on that being sufficient to take down any Twi'lek.

That only caused further upset. Maarani again stepped back from the underhanded assault, gritting her teeth in rising anger as her grip faltered. In that moment, she twisted around and balled her fist again, this time going right for Karren's kidney.

The anguish it caused drove her on, bringing her hand back up to strike at her face again and again, until she fell unconscious altogether.

Maarani let her drop in the most spiteful way she could, stepping over her without a second thought. "Damn Imperials."

All of five steps back out into the corridor after retrieving her blaster, looking to make for the nearest armoury, she stopped again at the arrival of yet another obstacle.

Harton.

Her blaster remained steadily aimed at his head while she moved to a secure position, not liking his calm demeanour at all, especially since he had yet to even draw a weapon.

"Got some pretty strong nerves to come find me like this."

"Actually, I instead have pretty good reasons to." He slowly reached up to his pocket and drew out a holocommunicator, which he set down on the ground with equal caution to ensure he didn't startle her.

The whole thing confused Maarani into asking the inevitable question. "Okay, what's the deal here? Not looking to get back at me for everyone I and the others have just killed?"

"Death is regrettable at times, but not something we frown upon. It is inevitable after all, Great Lady."

That brought memories rushing back to the forefront of Maarani's mind, until she ended up lowering her blaster altogether and moved over to him. She kept her gaze up while kneeling down to pick up the communicator, which she promptly stuffed into her pocket for later viewing.

"How the hell has Sloane not caught you? And if you really are one of them, why let her torture me all this time?"

"The Lady instructed us not to directly intervene. She told us that it was a necessary trial, that we could only act once things had been set in motion by your friends. And so, we act."

Maarani swallowed deeply, now that she wasn't actively looking to kill there was an uncomfortable feeling forming in her stomach. Or more accurately, she was actually starting to take notice of it at long last.

"I'm not apologizing. I am fed up with being trailed about on breadcrumbs of half truths, and…"

Harton nodded with a soft smile, so completely different from his firm, authoritative manner that he had to conduct himself with the rest of the time. "We hide the extent of our existence purely for our own sake. But the time has come to begin moving actively, and now we reveal ourselves."

He nodded at her pocket to reiterate his point, her realization being quite the sight indeed. "Changes are coming to the galaxy. The war will end soon, but peace cannot begin for many years yet. Your actions will be crucial in those intermittent times. And we will support them all, regardless of the path you take."

Maarani glanced down at the uniform again. What had felt so comfortable, so fitting just minutes earlier was starting to feel strange. Then again, she was always rather more volatile with her decisions, and probably even her alignment.

"I'll get back to you on that. I've still got half the galaxy out to kill me, so until they're all gone or given up I'd rather not have a secret army taking action for me. By the way won't Sloane find out now that you've blown cover like this?"

"We have our means of getting about. Wouldn't be much of a 'secret army' if we couldn't get to where we are needed readily after all."

"Right… The uh, shatterspace rifts." She chewed her lip awkwardly at that, contemplating her next move. It wasn't too late to change her mind again, and knowing that the Following had her back as well made things a little easier on the mind. That left one major concern to ask of.

"What about Kiarna?"

"She is attending to concerns of her own, last I heard. I wouldn't worry about her for a while yet, not until the time is right to settle matters."

Maarani rolled her eyes, but took what little comfort she could from it. "Fine, I'll worry about everyone else then. Starting with the droids, although if your lot can just reprogram more that'd help."

The lights flickered as a deep rumble went through the ship, causing Maarani to stumble about briefly. She had a fair idea as to what was responsible. "There goes the energy dampeners. They'll be leaving soon."

"As am I. I wish you luck on your journey, Tegama."

When he turned to presumably find a secure place to leave from, she nodded and went back towards the hangar bay once more. By then, the prospect of taking over the ship single-handedly had waned in appeal. And as Dana had made it clear herself, it would only further alienate her from the few people that could in fact help her with the greatest problems.

* * *

A shiver went through Sloane at the moment she regained consciousness. Something felt wrong immediately, and not just the rising aura of death that had gained strength since she had been knocked out.

Her vision was still limited, as was her capacity for channeling the dark side, forcing her to stumble over to the open doorway with far less grace than she would ever allow herself to conduct in.

That confusion turned to cold fury as she collapsed to her knees beside Bitter's body, reaching out to his clammy face. The killing shot was still fresh, and definitely made after she was left unconscious.

The Jedi would have killed him before, and certainly wouldn't have let the others do so before storming in.

The conclusion came to her when she noticed Night leaning against the wall, clutching at the throbbing pain in his head. She disregarded that entirely when rising to her feet, and quite sharply slapping him across the face.

"I told you two not to do it! This was the one time you were not to even make implications or threats, and you still did it!"

"Mother we-"

She slapped him again. Even with the Force at her disposal, it had always been the most demeaning way possible to discipline her sons, but now it seemed she was too late on that count. "You, Night! Be proud of yourself, you're now an only son because you couldn't control your own disgusting urges!"

Before he could get a word in, she went to take his lightsaber, only to discover it was missing. A quick look around didn't reveal its location to her, only that Bitter's was missing as well. "Go get your weapon back from wherever they hid it. At least then you'll have done something that hasn't ruined things further."

Even with no weapons, no powers, and no intent on stooping to use a blaster of all things, she still made a furious pace down towards the hangar bay where it had all started.

* * *

"See? I did not in fact just blow the whole ship out into space, thank you very much."

Once again Jayden rolled her eyes on the sprint over to the boarding ramp. The hangar doors were definitely open, and the fact that they were breathing at all did mean that the containment field was working. It still only ended up as a mild comfort against her concerns at Izan repeatedly questioning whether or not he had put in the right command.

"You're the one who should be thanking me. Unless you like the idea of being thrown out the airlock to retrieve the ship from however far out."

"Pass on that. Cecile, better go check to see if anyone sneaked aboard."

While she shuffled off to the ship, he hastily shoved what storage crates remained into a makeshift barricade, keeping his eyes on the corridor approach. "How long would it take them to get back here? Been minutes since the explosion now."

The sight of an officer sprinting up the corridor caused him to duck down in preparation for another assault, only to glance back up and do a double take when he saw exactly who it was.

"Maarani? Where's Dana, and why are you-"

"Haven't a clue, and because I was cold. Since none of you thought to bring me clothes to get on for the escape."

"What do you mean 'haven't a clue'?"

Maarani shrugged while hurrying over to the ramp, still looking over her shoulder in case they were being pursued. "I got a little upset okay? I'll explain when we're in deep space and not being chased down by what's left of the ship's soldier compliment."

She pursed her lips when Dana rushed down the corridor at speed, and glared at her in just the way she expected.

"That was a fast turnaround."

"I've got a good reason for it. Let's go."

Jayden glanced at Izan, who was also avoiding making eye contact with Dana as she practically stormed into the ship after Maarani. The answer clearly wasn't something either of them would like.

"Maybe it's time for another round of cards, with all of five of us perhaps. At the very least it'll-"

She had glanced back down the corridor again, only to see Sloane approaching at brisk pace, and looking even more enraged.

"Scratch that thought! Let's not take the chance with her!"

They were both up in the ship seconds later, heading up to the cockpit where Maarani had already settled in to prepare for a very fast launch.

"Cecile, do we have yet more bombs to worry about or what?"

" _All clear Mistress._ "

"Fine." The thrusters fired up, lifting off the deck enough to safely pull up the landing gear and make the turnaround inside the hangar bay itself, catching a glimpse of Sloane as she marched out into the open with yet more troopers behind before making the final circle for their escape.

As soon as they were out, she adjusted her heading for the nearest region of uncharted space and floored it.

"As I was going to say Dana, Colonel Harton is a member of the Following, and he reminded me that I'm not in a position to take over the Sith Empire yet."

Izan and Jayden blinked in confused disbelief at what they had just heard. Dana herself remained stone faced.

"And while I'm at it, the search for Yuthura is on hold. We're going back to the Corellian Run to that planet I didn't actually crash on. I'm going to search that island until I'm actually satisfied there's nothing to find. I still don't have a clue how to find the man who screwed with my brain, but at least I'll know there's nothing the Jedi could have actually done."

They hit hyperspace at that moment, ending the tension of a follow-up attack from Sloane's ship. It seemed they were done fighting for that day.

It was a while longer before Dana finally chose to speak, and it was not with a pleasant tone.

"How many more did you kill before changing your mind? There is a difference between what we did to rescue you, and seeking out death yourself."

Maarani kept her gaze forward, not wanting to weaken her position in the argument.

"I'm not Jedi. I can't become one, not in the way my parents or my brothers did. It's taken me a long time to realize, but there it is. The Lady of Balance singled me out to help bring about change. That means I don't think she'll let me lean to either side too much, and that includes going full Sith. So I don't think what I do matters anymore, Dana. Either way, it's all headed to the same place."

"Everything we do matters, Teegs. None of us would be alive today if the Jedi had given up twenty thousand years ago 'because none of it matters' when fighting the Sith. It matters to those that they protected, and that hasn't ever changed. I'm sorry you've lost sight of that."

There was no attempt from Maarani to hide her sigh of relief once Dana had finally left the cockpit. Her point about not taking any chastization from her still remained.

"Eight years I protected the Republic, and I nearly lost it all for 'doing the right thing'. I'm not the one with a guilt complex going on, not anymore."

When she finally felt ready to take her hands off the controls, she reached up to the communicator given to her by Harton. Answers to her questions about the Following, and quite possibly help in finding Yuthura, and more importantly her purpose going forward were waiting within.

She placed it back in her pocket and looked to the others. "I'm not turning my back on the Jedi. I just need some space from them for a while longer, until I can focus again."


	50. Stardust to Stardust

_I, Tegama'Arani of Ryloth, do solemnly swear by my honour, to serve and protect the Republic, all its member worlds, all its citizens, and all its ideals._

Many times in the past few months she had laid there in bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what it had seen, who had been in her position before she had taken ownership of what was now the _Distant Star_. Who had flown her? Where had she flown to? Was she just a metal machine, a means of transport and nothing more to them? Or did she hold more significance than that? Had she ever been a home?

 _I take this oath as a duty-bound soldier of the Republic. May my word, my presence, my name carry the weight, respect and authority as so deserving._

She tilted her head around, brushing a lekku up out of the way, until she was able to stare at the Imperial badge she had pulled off hours earlier. Whomever it belonged to was probably dead, or else no longer in need of it anyway. Just another enemy officer.

 _My loyalty is to the people. May I gladly give my life in service of them should the need arise. May the Force be with us all._

Her lungs emptied in a very long exhale. Three squares of blue, three squares of red. A perfect symmetry of the two. More fitting ironies, or coincidences, or whatever it was that fate had decided to tell her about her destiny. She didn't know herself, in all the meanings of that phrase.

On a whim, she reached her hand up towards her lightsaber nearby, hoping on a whim that it would fly into her hand and spare her the agonizing notion of continuing to let that stranger who violated her mind hold his victory.

When no such thing happened, she rolled her eyes and twisted onto her back once more, her hand dropping onto her breast. A needed reminder of the message she had been handed. A message that she had been afraid to open, afraid that it would leave her disappointed when she didn't get the answers she wanted.

She chose that moment to remove it from the pocket all the same, turning it through her fingers until she was satisfied.

"Here lies Maarani, the biggest schutta bitch this side of the galaxy, wallowing in her own misery."

A few shuffles of her shoulders back had her head resting against the wall behind, enough to stare down mostly comfortably at the communicator once set on her stomach, even if it was at the expense of proper neck posture. With a few taps, she brought it to life at last, bringing up the hologram of a figure in full robes and hood, no identifying features whatsoever to be seen.

" _Great Lady, in receiving this message, you've been contacted by one of our recruited agents, because we feel that the time has come for you to be made more readily aware of the extent of our activities. The last transmissions from the droids we reprogrammed to ensure your safety indicated that you escaped Telos unharmed, and your presence on Ketaris confirmed as much._ "

Maarani tilted her head. The voice was feminine, and yet there was something unusual about it she couldn't quite pin down, as if it wasn't entirely natural.

" _While I and others would prefer to give you the full explanation in person, where we can provide comforts, rest and answer any questions you have properly, it has been agreed that the changing landscape of the galactic powers means we cannot wait until you are ready to meet us properly. So I will try to cover as many of the important details and potential questions in this message._ "

"I suppose I can just pause this message when I get tired of the rambling and pick back up later."

" _I am the Voice, it has long been my duty to discern and speak for the Lady of Balance in guiding the Following since our awakening. Our numbers are not significant, those of the original number less than fifty. We were barely a hundred before the Fallen chose their path and left us. But we have many allies in the galaxy, including some in the ranks of the Jedi, one on the High Council, as well as amongst the Sith. Even one of the ranking sorcerers is sympathetic to our cause._ "

"If it's Sloane of all people, you'd better fire your damn evaluation psychiatrist."

" _Our goal as laid out by the Lady is simple. We wish to achieve a lasting peace in the galaxy through mutual understanding and settlement of grievances between the Jedi and the Sith. One side destroying the other has shown time and again that resurgence is inevitable, and the cost is mounting higher and higher towards trillions of innocent lives. We believe that once the ancient, and fundamental divergence between the two descendents of the Je'daii is resolved, resolving conflicts with other galactic powers such as the Hutts, and ensuring peace continues with those such as the Mandalorians will be far easier to accomplish._ "

"Yeah how's that working out? Seems like they're both quite happy to go about killing the other when it suits."

" _The Lady tells us that people such as your parents have laid the first steps towards achieving that peace, that your conception goes beyond a physical act-_ "

"What a surprise, the Voice doesn't know what too much information is."

" _-and extends into the realm of great potential that has not blessed the galaxy in a long time. Your gift in having inherited your father's empathic powers is crucial to resolving this conflict without more bloodshed, to ensuring that both sides can finally be heard by each other. The self-righteous nature of the Jedi, and the egotism of the Sith must both be brought under control. Both have much wisdom to offer, but both continue to misuse their knowledge and beliefs despite knowing better. You are one of an incredible few who have the potential to appreciate, utilize and manipulate both sides of the Force to its fullest degree._ "

"Funny, seeing as I can't even gesture at a lightsaber half a metre away and have it whisk into my hand. Can't say I see myself channelling the great powers of the Force and stopping wars by making everyone join hands and sing some crappy song about peace anytime soon."

" _I realize this is all a lot to take in, all I ask is that you take the time to reflect. We serve the Lady, and she has instructed us to provide whatever aid we can to you and your friends. Please, think on all I've said, all that I have yet to say. And do not give up hope. However impossible some situations in the near future may seem, however difficult you believe it will be to achieve particular outcomes, know that you are far from alone in your struggle. Together, we can bring much needed change to the galaxy. And, we will do everything in our power to see that you are justly rewarded for everything you have endured. Your time of anguish will end, you will find the happiness you desire._ "

The hologram closed down at that, leaving Maarani to breathe in and out slowly for a full minute before sliding back down to a more comfortable position.

"And here I was thinking I was already happy all the time. Oh right, wrong gay."

Despite her sarcasm, something that had seemingly resurfaced more prominently, there was indeed a great deal to think about now. Beyond just having a group ready to assist her, a purpose to go forward with that she had wanted for so long now. And she was still working towards overcoming the biggest obstacle between herself and that, provided she could discern some useful way to track down Yuthura at last.

"It's funny, I kinda miss hearing your voice in my head Kiarna. Or Azera. Whatever you're going by these days. Seems we've got indecisive names in common."

She drummed her fingers on her stomach while she stared at the ceiling again. "All this anger between us, because I mentioned my mother's name and you flipped out, then tried to kill me several times. And then you go and save Jayden's life, spin this whole story about aiming for better ideals to her."

There was perpetual silence in her mind.

"Where are you now? Are you looking for me? Do you want to kill me? Or do we finally get to kiss and make up? One bloodthirsty murderer to another. Two near-humans, if you count blue skin and tentacles growing out of my skull as being close enough to a human. We're practically a match made in however the cliche goes."

Still no answer.

"Girlfriend number four? Can't be that upset that I did some catching up with Nurrina after all those years apart, not like either of us wanted to rekindle things for real. And well, if Zariba and I did anything, it was while I was completely unconscious and thus I'm not responsible. Not like you can be unfaithful to a soulmate when said mate has been trying to kill you for a while now, fair's fair."

Not even a whisper.

"I don't even know you, and you don't know me. What do Miraluka eat? I mean, I'm not that fond of fungus, that's something different about me from Twi'lek in general. I've told you something about me, when do I get to hear about what you want to eat on our first date? Do we even bother with dating?"

Someone walked past the door outside, presumably Dana given she was the only other occupant of that wing.

"Since you're all set on the whole 'Empress-to-be' schtick does that mean I inherit the throne of the Empire if you bite it for whatever reason? Or do I get to be a special person in a harem? What about a secret mistress? I hear that happens on Alderaan a lot. All those noble families playing politics, marrying off children to people they don't love, sometimes even against their own preferences. Some make an absolute fortune sneaking around just to give the unhappy husband the touch of another man for once I hear."

The hum of the ship sounded louder than ever with nothing else overtop it.

"Forget I mentioned politics then. Maybe use your fancy Miraluka sight to peek around, let me know if my butt looks fatter than usual in these pants. Black is supposed to be slimming, but I'm not feeling thinner in this getup. I mean I've only ever seen you in that white with red trim coat and vest, can't comment on your butt can I? You looked pretty thin if that helps any. Not like I've done much to keep the muscle all toned and that, don't have to worry about breaking any bones when we go at it. If it comes to that. Guess its better that I don't know if you're turned on or off by that now. If you're even listening."

She sighed in defeat and pushed herself up to a sitting position on the edge of the bed.

"Oh right, you think because I'm a Twi'lek that I'm prone to groping myself and gyrating, forgot about you being a racist bitch there. The wedding is cancelled, I want my engagement dowry back, and you can forget I ever had a nice thought about you."

Despite being very much alone all that time, she still somehow felt even more isolated after that declaration. How long would it be before she kicked Izan off the ship, and told Jayden to go back to Mandalore?

The only thing keeping Dana on board was that they had yet to get near a spacefaring planet.

It led to her thinking back to the last 'pleasant' conversation between them all back on Ketaris. The last time she felt like they weren't dealing with yet another crisis. And if she were to go it alone, mercenary work seemed very much like her only real option.

"I'd need a good codename, something memorable…"

Her idle glancing around brought her attention back to the flight jacket at last, specifically the Blue Squadron patch that was oh-so-conveniently facing right at her.

Another long sigh came and went. She didn't want to think about Tebahney.

 _I'm gonna keep asking until you tell me. Why Wildfire?_

It was too late to shut out that memory, so she relented into playing along with it instead.

"It's a stupid superficial joke, just like every other pilot's callsign."

 _Yeah, so what's the joke then?_

"I'm Wildfire, because I'm a flaming homosexual. You satisfied? The big secret is out there, except it's not actually secret because that would go against the whole point of being flaming!"

She forced a bemused smile. "And the rest is history. Just like your ashes over Mandalore Tebah."

After a slight sniff, she rolled her eyes and got up to retrieve both the jacket and her vibroknife from the nearby table. Once back on the bed, she got to work with the fine task of cutting the threading that stitched the patch to the jacket.

"I'm done being Wildfire. I stopped being Blue Six a long while ago y'know. Now I'm just another Twi'lek gun and illegal lightsaber for hire." Her eyes glanced over at the shoddily made weapon in question. "Maybe that's my trademark. Blue skin, red blade, broken inside and out. Shambles, baddest tailhead anyone's ever seen. I can get used to being called Shambles."

The patch came free with a few snaps of what thread remained. The light brown, near pristine fabric below practically glowed in how deeply it contrasted with the rest that had been through all kinds of hell and back.

She tossed the patch aside with a roll of her eyes, and began to unbutton her coat. "Enough symbolism for one day. Or one year. However long."

The eventual return to the cockpit was with her usual attire back on at last. No more scent of blood, or alcohol, or misery in general around her.

She couldn't say the same for Dana. Hunched over the controls, hands clenched together, thumbs pointing down over the bridge of her nose while her index fingers provided support for her forehead. Praying, thinking, trying not to cry she couldn't tell.

"I used to think the Goddess was just a myth, based on some ancient Twi'lek woman with Force powers, spiralling out from the truth like all myths, until she transcended by reputation alone. But then, your goddess is very much real, isn't she? Does Vahl still answer your prayers?"

"Is this going somewhere, Maarani?"

"You tell me."

The pilot's seat felt unusually cold when she sank into it, tight fabric against leather, the loose buckle on her jacket catching for a moment in the exact same spot it always had, only she had never consciously taken notice of until that moment.

"Nothing to say. I promised to train you in the ways of the Jedi, not of the Sith. Or the Vahla for that matter. It's a dead culture, I am the last remnant of it, you only have a fraction of that remnant. We are not bringing it back."

Maarani shrugged, twirling around in her chair for a full circle while drumming her fingers on her thighs. "And what if I don't want to become Sith, or Valha? What if it's just that I don't feel like spending years and years as a padawan, not because I'm impatient, but because there's just nothing to be gained from sticking to tradition? What then?"

Dana took a long breath, then lifted her head from that posture so she could stare out across the empty void ahead. "You don't get to make that call, Maarani. Grand Master Pala decided you weren't ready to train alongside the Jedi, and she had every damned right to make that call. Just like I had every right to refuse her order to return when I knew it was for the wrong reasons, when she didn't have your best interests in mind. You are the last person who gets a say in where you place in the ranks of the Jedi."

"Oh I see. You're trying to pitch it like a military matter, only it's not because you don't get to defy orders just because you don't like them." She grabbed at her sleeve and twisted the now bare shoulder towards Dana for her to see. "That's my last tie to the Starfighter Corps gone, Dana. I'm not a soldier anymore, I'm not Wildfire, I'm not Blue Six. I am Maarani. I am freaking Shambles the hired lightsaber now."

Dana paused in her breathing, thought about it for close to a minute, then twisted her head around. "Shambles? Really?"

Maarani's teeth came down on her lip. "It sounded better five minutes ago when I was in my room ranting at voice-in-my-head Kiarna. Not that she's answered back yet. To be honest I'd be happier if I never hear-"

A fierce explosion from far behind rocked the ship itself about violently. Alarms began to blare crucial seconds later than they should have. Both women had to push themselves off the control panels to overcome the inertial forces that had catapulted the ship out of dead stillness.

"What the hell was that!?"

Maarani went right for the engines, assuming that either they were still functional and thus would overcome the death tumble they were trapped in, or confirm her current fear that they had in fact exploded without warning and they were now stuck in deep space.

The feeling of a sudden rush forward was never more relieving, but it still highlighted her to an equally catastrophic problem.

"The hyperdrive is gone!"

She scrambled across the controls while twisting around to look down the corridor all the way to the engine room several metres away. The hatch had sealed shut automatically.

"What do you mean gone? If the hyperdrive itself blew we'd be scattered across lightyears of space right now!"

"I know!"

A second terrifying explosion on the starboard hull caused both Jayden and Izan to slam into the wall in their race to the cockpit. It sounded as if every alarm was going off by then, adding to the mayhem.

In that time, Maarani had regained enough control over the thrusters to re-orientate back to the galactic plane and thus get her bearings in order. The ship's status readout was signalling full decompression in the engine room.

Sensors were only just picking up five ships circling them in attack formation. Somehow, they had evaded detection until two missiles had already found their mark.

"It's Seradan! He knew exactly where to strike so we couldn't jump away the moment the attack began!"

A hard roll to the right saw a third careening off the port hull before detonating some distance away, enough to be of little concern.

"We have to win this fight, but until then there's probably going to be a lot of holes opening up in the hull! Get the EVA suits and be ready to use the pods!"

"You serious? If we abandon ship, the next nearest people to us are literally the Imperials we just went and slaughtered!"

"That's our tough luck Izan! Go!"

The third strike landed somewhere on the underbelly of the main hull, causing quite a few lights in the flooring to explode as the ship rocked yet again.

"Now would be a really good time for fancy Force Missile Deflection powers Dana. This isn't orbital artillery in the middle of a thick snowstorm."

"I'm saying it again Maarani, that is not how the Force works! I can't keep track of where the ship is moving as well as where the missile is going at the same time to push it in a direction that'd be enough to make it miss in the two seconds I'd have." The ship shook as yet another landed on the port hull towards the back. "That and blaster shots don't have guidance systems in them to fight back against anything I do."

"It'd be something! Auto-cannons aren't even getting a chance to lock-on, so unless you have any other ideas for point defence we are screwed!"

Izan and Jayden stumbled back in not long after, hauling the other two suits and respective helmets, yet to put on their own.

"We can't find Cecile!"

Maarani's lips tightened down. She had already concluded the answer, putting it aside to spare the distraction. Now that was no longer an option. "I told her to double check the engines when we came to a stop. She's long gone."

She gripped the controls briefly, pulling another hard turn to try and evade the next missile with little success as it detonated just off the port hull to her direct left, casting a spray of metal shards across the window. "Alright, Jayden, swap with Dana, take over piloting until Izan swaps with me, then get on manual targeting with the cannons! Shoot anything you see!"

Once they had switched, she waited until the system flashed a confirmation on switch to lift her hands away, wildly spinning in her seat to leap up out of the way.

"Dana, when I've got the suit on and I'm back in the seat, I need you to get my helmet on. We don't have time for me to fumble around because getting lekku into tight spaces is a lot harder than it has any right to be."

By then, Dana had hastily kicked off her boots and taken her outer robe off to hastily fit herself into her suit while also trying to keep track of her helmet while the ship continued to tremble from the strain on the engines. "What if the comm system blows? We can't use the holo-communicators in a vacuum."

Maarani had also taken off her boots and tossed her jacket into the corridor, hanging onto one end of her specialized helmet while she tugged her suit on in spite of how uncomfortable it was over her remaining clothes.

"Izan!"

The next strike scored the main hull towards the back, causing alarms to blare as hatches sealed themselves shut automatically.

"Learn to read lips! Jayden, shut off the pressure containment system before we get locked out of the rest of the ship! And don't forget your helmet!"

"Give me a minute!"

"Oh yeah, I can keep this up for a minute alright!"

"Get ready to switch it again, I'm almost done!"

Once her hands were working their way into the sealed gloves, Maarani twisted around to face Dana. "Check the seals quick, then Izan can check yours when we swap back."

Dana rolled her eyes while awkwardly feeling over the seams in Maarani's suit with her bare fingers, having struggled to get her arms in the sleeves herself. "Not feeling any gaps."

A strike on the starboard hull tore open the outer airlock hatch, thankfully one of the few areas of the ship that was always sealed off. The reminder of the pressing danger was nonetheless prevalent. Any further strike could breach the armor plating and start cracking the hull itself.

"Ready?"

"Controls switching…" Izan's eyes were flicking between the view ahead, the scanner readout and the indicator light multiple times a second, waiting for that signal.

As soon as it lit up, he shoved himself out of the chair to his left, allowing Maarani to come down from the right and have the controls switched back again within seconds.

The momentary delay from the switch resulted in a third strike to the main hull, this time on the underside that had so far remained untouched. It was a small stroke of luck in an increasingly bad situation.

"Jayden, I'm gonna start pulling some hard turns. I need you to be ready to track whatever ship that comes into view with your eyes and gun them down as much as possible before they break off. You'll have seconds at most."

"Alright, not too different from hanging underneath a speeder and picking off cannocks I take it?"

Maarani tried not to turn her head at that, and failed, putting the ship into a firm roll while she did so. "Is that what Mandalorians do for training?"

"I was twelve, we got bored."

"Oh good, well I'm glad you being bored-"

A blast on the port hull right at the front blew off a shard of the armor plating, sending it flying right at the window ahead until it speared through in terrifying fashion. Stress contortions were already starting to spread through the transparisteel as the pressure from inside the ship itself weighed down on the introduced weakness.

"Helmets! Helmets now!"

Not being able to take her hands off the controls for even a moment only heightened her own growing anxiety as she watched the contortions spread further and further, warping the view into various colours as the metal lost its true transparency. Dana was still fumbling her lekku into the back portion of her own helmet, which she still had to seal to the rest of the suit as well.

The actual sound of the groaning, twisting metal grew louder as it reached the frame and began to bow outwards. It was then that she noticed just how hot the shard of plating itself was, further weakening the window as it warped more and more.

"Almost got it!"

"Dana!"

There was a hiss of air rushing out as a gap began to form, before the whole section ripped out into a gaping hole.

Never was Maarani more relieved than when the front of her helmet finally came down and clicked into position thanks to Dana's frantic efforts.

It still highlighted all too well just how outmatched they were.

While the air continued to rush out, a warning meter showing the rapid drop in pressure, she forced herself to avoid looking at it and keep her attention on finding that firing solution on the nearest Hidden Hand ship.

"Alright, any of you hearing me?"

The silence that had settled in thanks to the vacuum around was particularly uncomfortable as her only way of telling when they had been struck was when the controls and chair shook about. There was no longer any deep rumbling from inside the ship itself.

"Yeah I hear you."

"Crackly, but it's there."

She tightened her grip as she slowly closed the arc on one of the circling ships, motioning for Jayden to be ready. "Dana?"

It took a while longer for her voice to come through to the relief of all the others. "I'm here, barely."

"Good, hold on!"

Maarani brought the afterburners to full throttle, hurtling them forward until they curved around right behind her targeted ship in question.

"Jayden now!"

"I got this."

A blare of blaster shots flew from every auto-cannon array, pelting the attack ship with volley after volley while the ship itself shook from the strain being placed on it.

"Come on, those shields have to break at some point."

It took several more seconds of sustained fire before they finally went down, allowing several shots through before it finally made the escape to hyperspace. Not an ideal result, but they had at least narrowed down the odds slightly.

The result was four simultaneous strikes all across the ship, shaking it more violently than ever with the combined blast.

"So much for making them back off!"

Maarani rolled her eyes while throttling back the afterburners to return to maneuverability. The one advantage of the decompression was no longer having to listen to all the blaring alarms. It also meant she wasn't aware of the hull integrity warning until she glanced up at it specifically.

There was no way they could last long enough to drive off all of the other ships, let alone for long enough to get out of the area.

"Get to the escape pods. Launch the two spares first, and if they don't go for them, take the next three. Leave the one up here for me."

All of them looked to her in surprise, none liking just what it meant for her. Something she was all too aware of.

"Don't argue, just do it! I'll figure some way to block scans for the last pod and hide in there until they're gone or something! Now go!"

Dana gripped onto the chair briefly, ready to try arguing anyway, then rolled her eyes and got to her feet instead.

"The only arguing is telling Jayden to not tell us she was right all along. And we don't want to hear 'told you so' either."

"Classy."

While they all hurried out, with some stumbling thanks to the unusual notion of no longer having air resistance inside, Maarani was racing her hand over the comm system to ensure it was still running.

"I've got another idea to buy us some time, but it means cutting off contact for a bit once those first pods are cleared."

" _I don't like the sound of that Teegs._ "

"Well, good, because it's a bad idea."

" _Launching spare pods. Don't get yourself killed._ "

"I'll try." While preparing to switch frequencies, she kept an eye on the scanner readout. After at least a full minute, there was still no sign of any attack on the empty pods. "They're not firing on them, guess they're waiting for me to jump in one. See you three in a while."

After the latest strike caused the engines to flicker briefly, resulting in a far heavier rock of the ship, she put her plan into action and began broadcasting to their pursuers.

"Hey! I want to talk with Seradan! Before you waste even more missiles trying to get me!"

* * *

"Attack leader reports three lifesigns departing the ship. First two pods were decoys."

Seradan smiled a little while pacing the control room. "She's afraid of us. No longer able to limp to safety, or put up a fight, all she can do is test our code. Predictable." He glanced to Aruga, humming with a nod. "What about the witch?"

"We can't distinguish her from the Mandalorian. Not without a detailed scan."

"She'll get what's due another time then." While Aruga relayed those orders, Seradan turned around and extended a hand for invitational gesture. "You don't mind, my dearest?"

Zariba glared at the relayed scans of the battle for quite a while, then closed her eyes with a small headshake.

"We'll have time enough to draw her out once Maarani is out of the picture, do not fret."

"Speaking of which…" Aruga looked up from the station he had moved to. "She wants to talk with you."

Another glance was cast to Zariba while Seradan moved towards the nearest communicator. "This should be interesting. Attack wing is to hold fire, for the moment anyway. It wouldn't do to cut her off before she's made her plea in full."

Feeling more confident than ever, he straightened up and brought his hands behind his back. It was too far to carry a holo-signal, but simply adopting the authoritative posture reinforced the sense of his control over the situation, something he wanted her to understand as clearly as possible. He held all the cards.

" _You bastard!_ "

"I forgot how grating your gravelled voice is on the ears. But let's dispense with the petty insults, seeing as you don't have any pleasantries in the first place."

" _Oh, so blowing my ship apart is your idea of a petty insult? What does shooting an innocent woman in the back constitute as then? A backhand slap?_ "

"Still hung up on Aiyek's death then? With your body count, I assumed you would have forgotten her by now. Names and faces tend to blur together after the first dozen or so."

" _Heard that exact one before, I'm getting sick of it!_ "

Seradan shrugged in the most unconcerned way. "If you're trying to waste my time, don't bother. No-one could possibly reach your shipmates before my attack wing blew them out of existence if I asked them to. I'm simply entertaining the notion that you might just beg for your life before the end."

The silence that followed made him smile more. Another point to him.

And yet, when she did finally speak, it was to ask a question that still managed to catch him off guard.

" _Is Zariba there?_ "

He looked to his daughter once more, who looked more shocked than anything herself.

"I couldn't think of a better gift than to bring her to the moment where your death is confirmed."

" _Seradan, I never touched her. She was never in any danger."_

"Oh, this'll be good."

" _That bit with the lightsaber was a bluff. I wouldn't have put it to her head if I even thought for a moment that it could actually harm her._ "

"And yet you not only threatened her life with enough conviction to trick a room full of interrogators and spies into taking it seriously, but you also left her in the hands of a Force witch posing as a Jedi to toy with whenever she tried to escape. You may not have harmed her physically, but psychologically, and through the actions of others…"

" _What do you want from me? Why are you giving me all this crap and spiel instead of just finishing it?_ "

He gave that question thought for all of a fraction of a second before shrugging again. "Perhaps I'm growing sentimental, perhaps I'm still trying to see potential in you. You still haven't begged, headstrong and proud as ever I see, despite your shaming to the galaxy. But, you still wronged me, and I'm afraid there is only one person who could convince me not to exact punishment for that misdeed."

His hand signalled for the communication to be cut off while he turned around to meet Zariba's gaze once more.

"Shall we be merciful and leave her to her ruined ship, dear?"

Zariba thought about it long and hard, of all the time spent with Maarani, both good and bad.

When her decision was made, she raised her gaze back up, looked her father right in the eye, and gave a small shake of her head.

"That's my girl. Attack wing, finish the job."

* * *

The barrage resumed right after the signal was cut altogether. Maarani cursed wildly while trying to wrest control of the ship out of the increasingly reckless sways it had fallen into.

"Dana! I'm sorry! I couldn't stop him! Just hold out…"

In her moment of desperation, she had failed to notice that the relay itself had been destroyed.

"Lady of Balance, if you're listening still, I could really use a way out right now."

Circuitry began to explode, power failures taking control of the ship away from her altogether. Through her feet, she could feel the hull itself starting to contort under the growing stress placed on all its weakened joints and regions.

One of the attack craft flew overhead, turning around after overtaking by a few hundred metres, and fired a missile right towards the cockpit.

Her eyes closed. Inhale. Hands gripping onto the chair.

Her eyes opened. Exhale. Twisting around, pushing herself towards the corridor.

As it spiralled in, she flew for the hatch controls, desperately sprinting through the last flickers of light in the ship, not daring to turn around to see if the doors actually had any power left to shut with.

The missile snagged a fin on the contorted window, causing it to twist right into the back seat on the left.

The blast that tore the cockpit wide open had a cascade effect through the rest of the ship. Tears snaked out across the main hull. The starboard hull's connecting corridors pulled free of the main segment altogether, spiralling out into the void. The port hull was crushed by the peel of the rest as it ripped open from the stem corridor all the way to the gutted engine room.

The _Distant Star_ had met its end.

* * *

"Scans report complete destruction of the vessel. No lifesigns remaining."

"Good. I want a pass-over search for the body, confirm that there is in fact one. They can recall once that's done."

Seradan broke from his pacing at long last to move to Zariba's side, firmly holding her shoulders in a supportive manner. "It's over. You need not trouble yourself over her anymore."

She nodded in the most solemn way, turning her head to rest her cheek against his chest. "Thank you father."

"Sir! Attack wing is reporting another vessel!"

The embrace was broken as Seradan released the hold on her to stride over to Aruga's station. "Identification? Who else would be coming after them?"

* * *

In the waning minutes that followed, Maarani was barely conscious, only able to make out vague shapes of debris, the green of the attack craft, and a bit later, a big white shape drawing closer towards her. Lights flashed from it, until the green was no longer visible.

If it weren't for the shard of metal that had torn through her abdomen, she might just have had the strength to crack a smile, and even a sarcastic remark about the fitting end approaching her. The last light before the darkness, before her heart gave out at last.

* * *

The white was everywhere when she regained consciousness again. Her EVA suit was gone, the air was sweet, and she felt surprisingly fine. Not even an area of soreness where she had been impaled.

"So this is it, huh? All those years knowing it didn't exist, and here I am…"

She twisted her head to one side, seeing a blank white wall with a simple stool between. The other revealed an empty side table, and to her surprise, a mirror above it.

"Not exactly what I expected from-"

At that point, she had tilted her head forward to look down over herself, only to find Azera standing there at the end of the bed she was laid out on. It was then that she realized her hands and ankles were once again bound, though she did at least still have her clothes on.

Not that it was any comfort.

"Are you serious!?" She began to frantically struggle against the bindings, teeth grinding against each other as she nearly screeched in terror. Yet again she was helpless, and even it wasn't an afterlife in which her worst enemy had come to torment her to the end of time, it was still very much a bad situation.

When her wrists began to bleed, she screamed more out of defeat than pain. "Why! Why why why!?"

Azera tilted her head. "You're my guest?"

While Maarani began to cry, that time out of pain as she continued to thrash about in a last ditch effort to escape, Azera made her way over to the table.

"Try to remain calm. I can heal those wounds you're inflicting on yourself. Easy enough, compared to bringing you back to life."

Through the stream of tears, Maarani watched Azera move up to the table, facing right into the mirror away from her directly, then reached up to her head.

"Kill me! You want that satisfaction to yourself? Kill me!"

There was a soft gasp from Azera's direction. The mask was in her left hand, which she left to rest on the table itself.

Her natural voice came out at last. A raw rasp that sounded like the one associated with Azera, only without the metallic sound.

"There is much to explain, Maarani."

She turned around at last.

Kiarna, the White Terror, Shadow Hand of the Sith Empire, and its future Empress, was finally unmasked to her.

Where there had once been a nose remained the bare nasal cavity, surrounded by contorted sinew that covered the rest of her eyeless face. The lips, what remained of them anyway, were discoloured into a nasty red, and were too thin and withered to close over her pristine white teeth properly.

"You have to understand, a lot has happened since-"

There was a deflated sigh as Maarani fainted altogether, leaving Kiarna to rest her hands on her hips in frustration.

"Some stomach you have Maarani."

* * *

She remained on the nearby stool until Maarani finally woke up again, having healed her wrists and ankles after removing those bindings, and put her mask back on to be sure.

When the Twi'lek sat up in a start, she remained calm and controlled, keeping her posture very passive to avoid upsetting her. "Shall we try this again?"

Maarani's hand went to the large hole in her shirt to feel the scar left behind on her abdomen. The wound had been there, and it had been healed. A quick look at her bare ankles showed fainter scars, and then finally her wrists which had been spared that altogether.

"What the hell is going on Kiarna? Where are the others?"

Azera very cautiously gestured to the open doorway. "They're in holding cells, non-harmful ones. I even retrieved your droid, it wanted space to perform self diagnostics so I left it to that."

"She. And somehow I'm having a hard time buying that you're just going to let me walk out of this room."

After a sigh, Azera stood up from the stool, keeping both hands in full view, and far from pointing at Maarani. "If we're on the subject of corrections, I no longer go by Kiarna. I did say there is much to be explained." When she got a dark look in response, she rolled her shoulders into an exasperated shrug. "Starting with the fact that I am no longer a racist bitch, as you so colourfully put it."

Maarani rolled her eyes and got off on the other side of the bed, making for the doorway.

Azera took that moment to get her point across. "Your butt does in fact look fatter than I recall, since I last peeked at it with my fancy Miraluka vision anyway."

The sound of Maarani's hand hitting the frame of the doorway with a shudder made her smile beneath that mask. The way she tried to shrug it off proved more amusing still.

"Why didn't you say anything? And how much did you hear?"

"You didn't want me to respond, and all of it. I came directly from Katarr to find you, I had to keep my mind open and try making contact telepathically before arriving and potentially scaring you off."

She moved around the bed and began to approach, keeping it slow and steady to avoid startling her more. "I'm sorry to admit I didn't foresee the attack, I would've tried to get here sooner."

"Alright just shove it with the apologizing and niceness. It's freaking me out. And on that subject don't take your mask off again!"

"Whatever you say, my secret mistress."

Maarani turned around with her finger pointed and ready for a rebuttal that came out in grumbles through gritted teeth.

"Nothing of what I said there comes out. You hear me?"

"Fine, somehow I doubt you'd want to kiss and make up after seeing what's left of my lips anyway."

"I hate you."

"Figured."

Maarani got out into the corridor, stopped and looked around the ship for several seconds, then brought a hand to her face. "Where are they exactly?"

"See? You need my help after all." Azera led her there with ease, trailing her right hand along the walls while she did so to maintain her bearings until they reached the room itself at last. Three of the five cells were occupied, and all three occupants, still in their EVA suits sans helmets, looked far from happy to see her.

That changed when Maarani entered shortly after, causing confusion instead.

"Do try to restrain yourselves from attacking me once I turn those fields off. Had to play it safely."

Dana was silently fuming, possibly more at Maarani than anything, while Izan felt it best to not complain at all on the vague hope that Azera was actually going to free them without any sudden fake-out attack.

Jayden for once was the most hopeful of them, simply watching Azera while she moved to the controls. "I had trouble believing that the White Terror was also Azera Vass, even after what Maarani told me after that battle between you two. Then again, I've never seen you in person looking like this."

"Believe it or not, that is something I am in fact grateful for. There are very few times I can recall where Kiarna was not the dominant persona that I played to." After waving her hand over the controls, all three fields deactivated, allowing the trio to step out at last. "Most of what I told you in that hospital was a lie. One exception being the part where I was glad that it wasn't a rib higher up that needed healing."

Immediately on instinct, Jayden's hand went to that rib just below her left breast, pressing into the flesh over it a little. "You know, I actually forgot it was even broken. Hasn't been sore since you fixed it."

"Really? I recall only intending to heal it just enough to make you stop coughing up blood."

"Alright enough." The fuming reached its peak for Dana, who very deliberately stepped between Jayden and Azera while glaring at the latter. "I haven't forgotten how vicious you were when you electrocuted me so you could take down Teegs yourself. Whatever this new scheme you're up to is-"

"No scheme Dana. I'm a different person from the one that fought you back on that planet. Now if you'll stop acting like I'm ready to murder you all, I do have a common room that is more comfortable for sitting through all I have to say."

There were many exchanged looks, most between Maarani and the others. When it was all said and done, she was standing beside Azera, and hadn't once raised an objection. The real argument would be with her.

"For the record, I have a pretty clear memory of floating in space after the _Distant Star_ blew, and of actually dying. I was a bit..." She chewed her lip and glanced to her left at Azera. "Scared, but being brought back to life isn't something you can just shrug off. That and she's the only way we're going anywhere."

* * *

The _Vastes'_ common room put that of the _Distant Star's_ to shame, something that quickly became a recurring notion. Where they had gotten used to cracked covers, dull lights, a dented and faded central table, and a mediocre kitchen area, they were now sitting in what felt like the reception of a high profile business office. And it was all white, instead of a dull metal grey.

Of course it was all familiar to Jayden, who seemed to be the only one not visibly uncomfortable under those circumstances, especially since she had been first to take off her EVA suit and settle in with the underlay for her armour alone. Even Maarani was twitchy in her spot leaning against one of the many doorways leading to other parts of the ship.

Azera herself had a lot of uncertainty and lack of direction to contend with herself before she even began to speak.

"To keep things brief, I travelled to Katarr under direction from the Lady of Balance, encountered Sereti and Visas, defeated Darth Nihilus after he tried to break me, and chose to heal and set him free instead of binding his power to my mask permanently like any other Sith would. My plan going forward is to prepare to reform the Sith towards a more peaceful way of thinking, and I need Maarani's help to achieve that, so here I am."

Aside from Maarani sniffling, the next sound was Dana giving the most sarcastic clap she could muster up, with a face to match just how she was feeling.

"Congratulations, I don't think I've ever been so utterly unconvinced in my entire life. I'm not even giving points for trying, let alone effort."

Azera's hands went back to her hips, having given up on the unfazed facade. "I don't have to have my mind completely destroyed and rebuilt to be given a second chance like Revan you know."

"Topical."

Both Azera and Dana looked to Jayden, who tilted her head awkwardly at her momentary lapse of judgement. The most she could do was lift her hands in defeat and go back to being quiet.

"Regardless, I didn't expect this to be an easy transition. It was hard enough convincing Sereti especially that things would be different, and she watched me make that key choice. As much as I want to see things through, if you all are that closed-off to the idea of trusting me even a little, I'll take you to a neutral world nearest to wherever you want to go. I won't force the issue."

Another round of looks to each other. Every one of the four had a different opinion on how to proceed, different reasons to back their viewpoint up. It was by no means an easy discussion ahead.

Maarani was the one to make the first move, still keeping to her lean while rolling her eyes. "Give us a bit to discuss it? Already got enough I need to settle with you one on one. And I don't just mean the soulmate business."

"Fine. I'll be in my quarters. You'll know they're mine because they're on the deck above, all the rest are down here."

Azera leaving the room after that without so much as a flinch for any kind of security measure was just another surprise by then.

It still did little to ease Dana's sarcastic mood. "You do realize she probably doesn't have a bed in there Teegs. Guess you'll have to invite the gracious Empress down to your chamber instead."

"Just because I'm willing to hear her out for saving my life doesn't mean I've forgotten that not too long ago she ripped the Lady of Sorrows out into the open after brutalizing me. So no, I don't think there'll be any eating out anytime soon thank you very much."

The mental image made Izan grasp at his head in an attempt to make it go away, all while grumbling to himself and taking to pacing. There was still a lot of conflict in his mind about the details, but his own personal opinion had been reached.

"We're not seriously going to take her with us on that search for Yuthura, if you're even still looking to fulfil it Maarani? I mean from what I recall, the only time they met was at the Jedi massacre. And oh yeah, working with her means we're directly tied to the number one name on the Republic's wanted list might I add, a list I've very much wanted to avoid!"

"She's still right about one thing. Doesn't matter what you did in the past, so long as you convince enough Jedi you're a new person and you save the galaxy, all is forgiven. I don't think the list will matter if we help her take out Lasidia and get the Empire under control."

"Oh that's exactly what I tagged along for Maarani, slaying Sith Lords and reshaping galactic powers is just part of the routine."

He made for a different doorway at that point, going off the vague chance that he would indeed find one of those supposed rooms to bunk in. "Tell your girlfriend that I only have one gesture and two words for her if she tries speaking to me. I've seen more than enough of Sith scum."

The only one not particularly sorry to see him go was Maarani herself. Presumably the only reason Dana even cared was because he was agreeing with her for once.

"Yeah I have a pretty good idea about what she needs to expect. And you've made it pretty clear how you feel Dana."

"Not clear enough apparently, seeing as you're actually considering going along with her plan."

Another eyeroll followed. "It's also a future concern that's ultimately my business alone, something Izan apparently doesn't understand. We're still stuck without a ship otherwise, with Seradan probably waiting for us to show up looking to buy a new one in this sector, not to mention the fact that we're still in Sith controlled space anyway. I don't trust Azera enough to let my guard down by any means, but at this point I don't see any better alternative to get back on the search. And keep in mind this is not a democracy, I will go with her alone if everyone else decides to leave. It's that simple."

Jayden finally felt ready to speak again, though she remained cautious and kept it brief. "Might as well have gotten him back to save saying all that again, just a thought."

"Oh, he'd probably complain about being even more of a minority in the crew if it becomes four women and a droid. Besides he's not in this for selfless reasons, no point bothering him about the bigger picture he doesn't care about."

A small shrug later, and Jayden was on her feet as well, though she was not nearly as eager to leave. "For what it's worth, I'm not leaving over this. Maybe it's because I only ever met her when she was in a good mood, but so far I'm willing to give her a chance as well. And I'd feel a lot better knowing you've got someone watching your back throughout this."

After the near constant arguments, the warm show of support actually brought a bit of a smile to Maarani. "And to think, you practically hated me when we first met. Pretty sure it was to do with the tattoos"

"I didn't hate you." Her hand clapped against her thigh in an expression of her loss for words. "I just wasn't in the best state of mind. I was all over the place after losing the leg. But you know what? I've stopped noticing it's not really my leg anymore." Her hand clenched up along it, feeling that synthetic skin beneath the fabric of the leggings. "I think it's because I actually have a purpose beyond taking assignments for a change. I'm not giving that up just yet."

"Good, self-diagnose yourself more instead of actually asking for a sit-down-and-talk session with me, it'll mean I don't have to stick around until Kiarna stabs you both in the back."

Maarani's smile was gone faster than anything she could think of. So much for lightening the mood. "Is that it then, Dana? What do you want from me? A bigger apology for dumping you two on that planet? For going mad after days of being tortured and threatened with degradation? For pissing off the wrong people and getting the ship blown to pieces? Or are you really this bothered that I'm not grinding my teeth and having to use all of my mental will to not go up there and blow that woman's brains out? Because I'm not getting the urge to shoot a blind woman in the back of the head. Not anymore."

"She's far from blind…"

"I was referring back to when I first met her okay? I knew almost nothing about her and I still had no problem gunning her down before she had even seen me. I'd like to think that I've changed since then."

She came off the doorframe at long last, leaving her arms to hang loose while she began walking the circumference of the room. "Like I said, I haven't forgotten just who we're dealing with here. But quite frankly, I don't hate her. I hate my own sister but not Azera. And if the Lady of Balance is doing something to make me feel this way, well to be honest I don't care. She protected me from Sloane, if she can make some of the pain of losing my family go away as well then I'm not gonna argue. I want to move on."

Dana rolled her eyes, then made a very deliberate point of getting up belatedly, all so she could look Maarani right in the eye with a momentary lavender glare.

"I really do hope you don't get burned for this. You're really good at making your feelings on a matter clear, at least when you're pushing unwanted people away. If you want to start trusting a mass murderer over your Jedi Master and former close friend, that's your choice. I'll stick around until you find Yuthura, but after that I'm done with this."

Maarani did her best to shrug that off in a casual manner in spite of just how much it was starting to pain her inside. After all they had been through, hearing Dana in such a closed-minded tone…

"Dana, I'm not putting my trust in Azera, I'm putting it in a cosmic being that has helped me out of awful situations and made good things happen time and again. She even tried to warn me about Zariba from the first night. But that doesn't mean I'm not ready for things to take a bad turn, okay?"

She made a point of leaving to end the conversation then and there. Undoubtedly there would be more arguments, but she felt her case and stance had been established well enough to them. Reasoning based on Azera's past behaviour as Kiarna was no longer wholly applying to the situation, and nothing said would change that.

There was more than enough time to mull it over anyway as she wandered the Vastes in search of the way to the upper deck. The fact that it also had a lower section for cargo, droids and even a speeder vehicle was daunting to wrap her head around. For a personal vessel, it almost classed as a corvette on its own, and she hadn't even gotten to look at the weaponry yet.

It was some time after finding a stairway up that she finally came across the cockpit ascent as well, right at the stern of the ship. The sight of bloodstains on the walls, as well as lightsaber gouges was rather concerning, especially when they continued up that stairway into the cockpit itself. A larger gouge in the top of the pilot's chair made her uneasily reach for her neck.

"I had a bit of an argument with Carudan. The man I pretended was my husband. Jayden met him twice I believe."

Maarani's lips went tight. Azera was slouched in a far fancier seat to the right, presumably the one she usually sat in when not piloting the ship herself. "So I take it he's dead?"

"Possibly. He survived cutting off his arm and lower jaw, as well as his left eye. Rakata freak just regrew all those parts in seconds, wouldn't be surprised if sucking vacuum hasn't finished the job."

"Rakata? How the hell did you pass off a big lizard as your husband?"

Azera sat up in her seat with a shrug, then motioned to the pilot's chair. "He didn't look like one. Probably imitated the facial and bodily features of people he ate, I don't really know how he pulled it off."

"Oh that's a comforting thought." To take her mind off just that, Maarani brushed her lekku forward and leaned back into the chair as best she could to become acquainted with the feel of it before starting her examination of all the controls laid out before her. "This is pretty advanced compared to what was on the _Distant Star_. I can figure out what most of this does contextually…"

By then she had started passing her hand over the controls themselves. Given Azera was constantly masked, it was far harder to watch and see if anything made her react in a particular way, indicating hidden importance.

Of all systems, it was the communications that made her breathe sharply, something that came as a surprise to Maarani. Not that she wasn't smart enough to take time to consider her next words before inquiring.

"What? Afraid I'll call for Darth Lasidia by mistake?"

While having mild regrets at her signalling, Azera remained very calm in her position all the same. "You can't make contact on any Republic signal. It's very specifically designed to work solely with Imperial codes and frequencies. And no, I am not giving any of you access to them."

"So much for building trust."

"Giving away military secrets that you know the Jedi and Republic Navy will exploit at the expense of thousands of Imperial lives is a step beyond helping one woman reconnect herself to the Force. I can't bring reform to the Empire if they know I've actively betrayed them. And there really is no covering up a leak of that scale. You would know."

That stung Maarani hard, though it was also a pretty damn solid point. And it made her aware of the fact that Azera knew of her history on Mirial, something that still felt important to keep in mind. Enough for her to relinquish her hand from hovering over the communication controls.

"Would you at least let Cecile take a crack at rigging up a second comm unit for Republic signals sometime, just using the mechanical stuff but none of the computerized components? If we need to call the Jedi for help or tell a Republic warship to stop firing we are out of luck right now."

"Once I'm assured that she won't cause any permanent damage to the ship. It will be a while before I can return it to the care of my maintenance crew you know."

Maarani chewed her lip to avoid pouting instead at that. "Meanwhile we were scrounging around trying to find reputable mechanics, and had to buy most of the parts elsewhere ourselves. And you get your own crew all to yourself."

"Are you going to keep complaining and doing nothing, or shall we get moving to your next destination so you can at least be going somewhere while complaining."

"Fine. We were headed to this planet off the Corellian Run. Sloane helped me remember what happened there, I need to see if there's any trace left of the man who cut me off from the Force before I go back to wondering how to find Yuthura. That okay?"

"Oh, the one you landed on after a Rodian merchant traded ships with you?"

That time, Maarani was dumbfounded beyond belief. She had told those who had come to investigate the incident about how she ended up with that vessel, but as far as she was aware they had never actually gone after the Rodian in question. And out of nowhere, Azera seemed to be well informed about that.

"I may have interrogated him not too long after we first met. He told me that a hooded man paid him to rig the ship with an explosive that would cause you to crash on the island, then the HK-50's showed up to his rescue and I got hit in the shoulder by the end."

There was a pause while Maarani thought that over. "Well that doesn't make sense, I clearly remember landing on the island. And the man who supposedly hired him can't have known about me before I landed there to arrange all that beforehand. Why would he lie in such a blatantly wrong manner?"

Azera tilted her head downwards slightly. "I don't think he expected you to ever remember those events, there is literally no-one else who could cast doubt on the version he gave me. I don't know why he'd make it seem like it was something planned ahead if it wasn't at all though."

"Guess we know where we're going after that planet, if he hasn't gone into hiding by now." Maarani got to setting their course for their end of the Corellian Run when she paused for further thought. "Is he actually even alive still?"

"Probably. All I did was disintegrate one of his fingers, and then gave him some spiel about Miraluka and Sith before the HK-50s arrived to save him."

Maarani looked at her with great confusion.

"I'll admit I wasn't making the best judgement calls in giving away my identity, even if I planned to kill him after, at the time anyway."

That earned an eyeroll while Maarani readied the ship's hyperdrive.

"If we do find them you have my word I won't resort to inflicting pain on him. Again. I'll also refrain from making a joke about pain being a method of information extraction you're already familiar with. Oh wait..."

"If he's stupid enough to stay at his job, we'll get the information clean. Enough people have been hurt. At least this time we'll have others watching our backs if the droids are still around. Jayden has a score to settle with them for her leg after all."

"Yes, I expect that will be quite the spectacle. The Mandalorian Jedi versus the Force immune, lightsaber and blaster resistant armored HK-50. The droid leader I encountered on Dalchon took a volley of blaster shots from this very ship without more than a stumble. But I'm sure we'll find a way to take them down."

"Back on Citadel Station, a pair of droids reprogrammed by the Following to rescue me just chucked a droid popper at their leader. Knocked it flat on the ground."

Azera hummed in a hint of disappointment. It was really quite a demeaning moment to hear such vastly different experiences with them back to back.

"I'll remember to keep one in my vest then. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they've upgraded against that particular problem by now."

"Great, just had to say it, so now that's exactly what we'll find out has happened. I told the others not to tempt fate, but I guess you didn't get that memo."

"If you think being prepared for probable outcomes is a bad idea, no wonder your ship got blown up. And by the way, you're welcome for the rescue, and the retrieval of just about everything salvageable that the worker drones could pick up."

As comforting a thought as that was, something she didn't expect to feel under the circumstances, it also reminded her of certain items that were more than likely gone for good.

"Right, well I'm sure I'll have fun picking through all the junk we really didn't need to keep anyway. And besides, with so many things left loose…"

She watched Azera reach into her vest, and draw out a circular piece of fabric. It wasn't until she flipped it around that she realized it was her flight patch, which she took hold of softly, almost with a bit of renewed reverence.

"I did wonder why you were sometimes referred to as 'Wildfire' when looking through Republic files we had in storage. I can also apologize for being rude about your sexuality if that's still a problem."

"I'll pass on that, actually." Despite her bemusement, there was something of a real sentiment behind the fact that Azera had kept it on her person to hand over. "Thank you. I guess I still need to go through and-"

Azera had gestured over her shoulder by then, bringing Maarani's lightsaber from a secure compartment and setting it down in her lap with an effortless use of the Force. "When you have the time, come by my quarters. I've only made a cursory examination of your lightsaber, but I believe there's some insights to be shared. That, and both you and Jayden have long wondered why mine is purple. I think there's plenty to discuss on the way over to Dalchon."

After a single nod, Maarani went back to making the final preparations, which boiled down to bringing the ship itself around to the calculated vector. Just past the cold husk of the _Distant Star_.

The sight of it floating dead in space gave her real pause. There she was, sitting comfortably on the bridge of the _Vastes_ , while the ship she had lived in for months drifted by in silence. This would be the last time she would ever see it.

"I bought it from a grey market droid merchant in Coruscant's depths, just hours after I first met Dana, and asked to be released from my commission in the Starfighter Corps. And this is where it ends. Out in the middle of nowhere…"

They slowly moved past, lingering bits of shrapnel and useless metal gliding over the deflection shields, until the main hull was out of view altogether. She took a long breath after that.

"I've heard some people getting jumpy about their ships, feeling like they'll never see her again or some such. I didn't get that feeling ever, even before the attack began. Funny how that works out huh?"

The navigation computer lit up an all clear for the hyperspace jump at last.

"It was nothing pretty to look at, and it was loaded with crap I was never going to use. But, it got us all through a lot. I liked it a hell of a lot more than my A-wing."

Azera remained quiet, though did very gradually reach a hand over to her shoulder.

The further sentiment made Maarani smile in more bemusement. "That's what I get for picking an explorer ship, and not a combat one. I should never have put it through the kinds of hell I did just to make a getaway."

She took one last breath, then engaged the hyperdrive. The sharp jump of their departure caused a few bits of the hull to drift towards where the Vastes had been moments earlier, almost as if chasing it off, or trying to follow.


	51. Stolen

The first twelve hours of the long haul across the galaxy had been a very strange learning experience indeed.

Jayden was the only guest who actually knew most of the layout, and thus opted to take first watch at the pilot's seat solely to ensure that they didn't fly right into an uncharted hazard while Azera was doing the minimal tour, with Maarani as the only actual participant.

What might have been an otherwise awe-inspiring experience was instead rather cold for her. The _Vastes_ was very much state of the art in sophistication and construction, but the overwhelming white also made it feel rather lacking in anything remotely characteristic. Not even a hint of red trim to match the outfit that Azera had remained in, despite losing the persona that was integral to it.

Even her new quarters felt a little bleak. The grey, unpolished, riveted and otherwise rudimentary walls on the _Distant Star_ had its own kind of charm about it, of really feeling like an old starship. Now, she could be on any number of worlds or ships and not know the difference.

Over an hour of lying on that unremarkable bed, staring at the unremarkable ceiling, and feeling rather bland herself passed before she pulled herself up and made the decision to do what she had painfully put off.

The gnawing guilt of how little regard she had for Cecile in the aftermath of her rescue had reached its peak, fuelled by the fact that she had so callously put her right at the heart of the first strike that had taken out the Distant Star. She was still reeling from her own ordeal, and had no shortage of bad feelings to clear with Dana, but now the disregard for the one who had truly enabled the rescue was something she chose not to ignore any longer.

When she did finally reach the droid bay, notably poorly lit compared to the rest of the ship, the rows of empty droid deployment racks left her feeling rather haunted, half expecting to find Cecile herself hooked up to one of them.

Instead, she was quietly working at a nearby workshop table, performing maintenance on herself since that was all she could actually do at that point. Her whole chassis had fresh burn marks all over, having turned what little scraps of synthflesh remained into melted char. Even her head looked more dented than before, though the marks there indicated some effort had been made to clean off the aged metal.

And yet, despite the attack, she was still ultimately in one piece, and functional.

"Cecile?"

Cecile turned her head immediately, those illuminated eyes flickering in their own characteristic way as she made out Maarani's form.

"Yes Mistress?"

Maarani's approach was slow, almost apprehensive. There were so many things she could say, wanted to say, but the nagging feeling in her mind was that Cecile couldn't truly understand any of those things because of her very nature as an artificial being.

That nagging feeling went away when she pushed aside all that apprehension, and instead went for the simple act of embracing the droid fully. Getting char and carbon scoring on her clothes, hugging an inorganic figure, none of it mattered to her beyond the intent she wanted to convey.

"I was so scared I had failed you when they hauled you off for that memory wipe. And then when I got you blown out of the ship like that. I'm so sorry Cecile."

Caught completely by surprise at the sudden, and yet somehow seemingly inevitable show of actual affection and concern, the most Cecile could do was reach down one of her arms and pat Maarani's shoulder awkwardly.

"You are not going to kiss me, are you?"

"No. I'm not kissing anyone anymore. Don't ask why."

Cecile's eyes flickered again. "I am relieved to hear that."

It took a little while longer for Maarani to release her hold, quietly brushing herself down after and looking up at the droid. "What you did to help get me off Sloane's ship, entirely of your own accord, well it proved something to me. Cecile, far as I'm concerned, you're your own droid now."

For once, there was no flicker. Just confused silence.

"I know I said I was giving you to Izan, but I don't think he'd ever hold onto that. He's not your master, and I'm not your mistress, not anymore. From now on, you're free to do whatever the hell you want to." When those inevitable thoughts of just what could happen crept in, she chewed her lip. "Within reason. All I mean is you don't take orders from me anymore. You only respond to requests, and you don't let anyone order you about. I mean, you can leave the moment we set down on Dalchon if you want to. Got that?"

"There is one problem…" She buzzed for a few seconds. "Maarani. My core programming is entirely dependant on serving. Even if I have not been needed as a child care droid, I do not believe full independence is something I am capable of."

"Azera's got plenty of Imperial credits to spare. I'll make the time on Dalchon to get you a new protocol package and have it installed. Better yet, when we eventually go back to Coruscant, I'll pay for whatever kind of overhaul you want, if you're still tagging along by then."

"Do you mean subjecting myself to the hands of that adolescent Mirialan at the Jedi Temple?"

That little reminder of the awkward conversation waiting for her back there put a momentary dampener on her elevated mood, but she still did her best to put it aside. "I've heard of a few droid-specific spas'. You'll be in good company there I'm sure. No Twi'lek or Mirialans to worry about there, right?"

Cecile's eyes flickered one last time. "If you say so, Maarani."

Maarani clasped at her mangled shoulder with a genuine smile, feeling so much better about herself for handling things at long last. "You're part of the crew, Cecile. You have our backs, we've got yours. Your voice matters."

She slipped away from the hold at long last, no longer feeling the need to look back as she departed the bay quietly, leaving Cecile in another prolonge silence, her computational core contemplating over all that had just occurred.

* * *

"Just to be clear, I'm not implying anything when I ask why you have no bed…"

Azera was in her meditation spot at that point, and had the good sense to lift herself out of the trance before Maarani arrived. The way she took up the doorway with her whole body and had actually looked around quite a bit before even saying a word was already a little irksome.

Despite her assurances, it was hard not to read into her question given how flamboyant she was at times. And that was just after two days of being onboard with her, leaving aside all of their other mental chats and brief encounters.

"When you reach the higher phases of becoming one with the Force, it is far more rejuvenating to meditate, than to actually sleep. That and meditation allows for glimpses into events present and potential, while dreams only offer nonsense."

Maarani twisted her lips to the right.

"Sex is ultimately a distraction from the attainment of power. Feeding into that distraction is detrimental in every way."

"Glad to know what I'll be doing for the rest of our fake marriage."

"Do you have an actual reason for coming here, or are you going to keep flipping between being comfortable with this arrangement and making it as tedious as you possibly can for us all?"

Another eyeroll later, and Maarani was making her way around to kneel in front of Azera. Her lightsaber she set down between them.

"We have a lot to discuss, starting with the lightsaber according to what you told me earlier. And please don't make this a facetime discussion."

Azera let out a long breath, fingers curling up over her knees. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not the first to be upset about the state of my face."

"Oh right, the 'man in red' as…" Maarani quickly bit down on her tongue. She had almost just given away Visas' identity without a second thought. "The Watcher put it. She warned me that you were going to be on Ketaris, but we wouldn't actually meet there."

The hesitation didn't go unnoticed. "I already concluded that Visas was present on Ketaris at the time, but she is long gone from there now anyway. As for the 'man in red', you needn't concern yourself with him. That's a personal matter that I'd rather not discuss."

Maarani tilted her head at her attempt to keep the secret being called out anyway. Then again, Azera had mentioned meeting her on Katarr. "Right, so you were in fact screwing him then. I guess both ways now."

Azera drummed her fingers on her knee impatiently.

"Well, continue with your story. Don't stop on my account."

"It's hard not to." She clenched her hands up altogether in an annoyed attempt to keep her thoughts on track. "Perhaps Jayden told you this, but when I first met her in the hospital on Arkanis, I told her that a Jedi had destroyed my face. It's actually two particular tales of mine I simply merged together for whenever I had to use a guise other than Kiarna, to avoid suspicion. The fact is, I destroyed my own face in the process of creating this very mask."

She pulled the glove off her right hand, showing off lingering burn scars that were faint, but noticeable in that particular light. All matching up perfectly to the red handprint that stained that otherwise pristine white surface.

"Rituals of the dark side almost exclusively involve sacrifice of some kind, more often than not from the individual seeking power themselves. Darth Lasidia argued against it, and she was devastated by what she saw as a mutilation of supposed beauty I once had."

An uncomfortable feeling began to form in Maarani's stomach. "That doesn't really sound like a Sith attitude. Shouldn't she have been proud that you ended up with such a strong power for it? I mean you took a lot of my blaster shots with that shield alone, pretty good power for a big galactic tyrant to have."

"We Sith of this era do not follow the ways of Naga Sadow. There is a level of consideration made for the greater whole, whereas Sith past have always succumbed entirely to their own personal gains. She felt that the Empire would be stronger with a leader that had good looks as well as a strong foundation, fierce mind and unrivalled power. To that end, she had taken extra steps to find ways to combat the physical corruption of the dark side, purely on my behalf. Something I only learned afterwards, when the damage had already set in."

She flexed that bared hand of hers extensively. "I have always drawn the power to heal from the light side, but even then, it simply will not work on the individual wielding it. I was content with the sacrifice regardless, and so we both agreed to not pursue restoration, preservation or alteration of appearance further."

"I guess that explains why she's still only got one lekku after all this time then."

Azera nodded. "To replace it would deprive her of that powerful draw. Her own kind of sacrifice. Darth Rak'Sakar's sacrifice may not have been voluntary, but the death of his mate and their young gave him a plethora of powers that even your sister cannot match. She has not accepted her lekku as a sacrifice, merely a setback, and she is weaker for it."

"Not surprised, or sorry for that matter. Not that long ago she showed up mentally just to say she hates me because I'm a lesbian. Hope not having her lekku hurts like hell on a constant basis."

"This is why I didn't leave any of my siblings alive when Nihilus guided me into wiping out my family. Bitter hatred resulting from deep feelings of betrayal is the most volatile, unpredictable kind."

Maarani chewed her lip at how dark the conversation was turning, to a point that even her lapse into bad taste didn't seem so bad. "So I guess we have another thing in common. Both our families were murdered by you, directly or indirectly."

"Quaint way of putting it."

"Sarcasm is how I used to deal with bad situations. Gonna take a while before I'm fully out of that phase, starting with cutting back on the bad situations. So, back to the lightsaber?"

With a simple gesture, Azera lifted the lightsaber into the air and opened the casing up to bring the cracked red crystal out into the open.

"Well, I can tell you for a start that it isn't a typical Sith forged crystal. This doesn't have any of the telltale signs of the common practise used to make them. Too many chaotic patterns in the crystalline structure."

"I mean, I did find it in a cave, so I kind of already figured it naturally grew there."

Azera shook her head. "That's the thing. This crystal has been used in a lightsaber before. What it does have is certain characteristics of crystals that have been salvaged from very old forms of lightsaber, back when the Jedi were still prototyping from the Rakata forcesabers. In short, it's not technically 'your' crystal, thus it actually has no bearing on your soul."

It took awhile for Maarani to process all of that, but when she did, she sighed softly and nodded in understanding. "I'm an idiot for not making the connection sooner. The cave I got that crystal from was called the Cave of Sorrows."

There was a period of silence. Azera took a little while to think before setting the crystal back in the lightsaber, and reassembling it as it lowered back to the floor between them. "There's a Sith legend about the Red Tear, supposedly the first 'artificial' lightsaber crystal. About a woman who weeped rich blue tears on a constant basis, but on the day she became a Sith, she stopped weeping, and her last tear was red. And thus, defined the colour of all Sith lightsabers to follow."

It resembled what she remembered of the Lady of Sorrows rather uncannily, something she kept to herself for the moment. "You just said that this crystal wasn't artificial."

"I only said it was not forged by modern means. And besides, legends get distorted. What I know of the Chosen One prophecy doesn't mention the Lady of Balance, or that she'd pick a loudmouth sarcastic lesbian who reminds everyone of that on a constant basis as her herald of peace."

She didn't need eyes to know that Maarani was giving her a less than flattering glare, and in particular hand gesture.

"My point is that the legend is up for interpretation. She may simply have claimed a natural red, but also been the one to begin the tradition of forging crystals, and they merged together over time, rather like the story regarding my face. Or the process itself has been further refined since then, so much that what may very well be an actual synthetic crystal appears natural in comparison due to its irregular structure because of rustic methods."

When that failed to settle the matter, she shrugged it off and continued anyway.

"I know very little about the Lady of Sorrows, save for what I learned from the rare times I was allowed to commune with what few holocrons the Empire has recovered. Either Atris had found her personal holocron, which means it's now in the Jedi Temple and out of reach, or it was destroyed long ago. It's very unlikely we'll ever have a definitive answer as to whether or not this is in fact the Red Tear, just a lot of debatable evidence."

"Well great, so not only does it look like homemade crap on the outside, but it's potentially a Sith artifact on the inside as well. I suppose the focusing lens is some long lost Rakata component, the energy cell was originally built by the Kwa, and the emitter once belonged to an Ortolan king who ate fifty pies a day and still looked skinnier than Dana is."

"Actually, I'd recommend replacing the emitter once you've regained your powers and have been trained to deflect blaster shots. The one you have modifies the blade's magnetic field in such a way that it pulls towards incoming shots, which while useful for now will throw off what you learn from actual training. The rest is just decent quality components, nothing remarkable or in need of replacement."

Maarani took the time to chew the back of her lips, then twisted them around a bit before giving up on her idle silence and sighed. "I could do without yet more big coincidences of fate, being part of some bigger plan is enough." She picked up her lightsaber, feeling the weight on her palm for several seconds, then placed it back down again anyway. "I used to feel like it was a nice representation of myself. Crudely made, unfinished, and non-functional."

"And people say I'm a depressing person to be around."

"Only because you're usually surrounded by dead bodies."

"How did I know that was exactly what you were going to say?"

Another pause for thought, this time shorter. It had raised another question that Maarani hadn't really taken into account fully until then.

"This Force bond of ours, just how much are we sharing? So far we've heard each other talking out loud, but I haven't heard the other half of some conversations of yours. Is that normal, or because I'm still not properly in touch with the Force?"

"It varies in every pair. It can be as simple as two individuals understanding the intent of the other in the heat of the moment, or it can be as vivid as seeing, even feeling the other as if they were there physically. Bonds of that strength mean harm is shared between both, but that also applies to relief." Beneath the mask, she took a deeper breath. "And other sensations."

Maarani's face went a shade of blue lighter. "So, uh, it's not that strong yet, right?"

"I don't know what technique you use, so no."

"Okay, let's make it a priority to sort things out between us before we find Yuthura then, deal?"

Azera remained very still, not even a slight flinch from her position. "Only if you get your mind out of your pants for once. Like I said, sex is an unnecessary distraction, especially when I have a revolution and overhaul of the Sith and the Empire itself to begin planning for. And you are going to help me with that goal when you're done with the Jed, make no mistake."

"I'm still not sure about being the wife of a galactic not-so-tyrant you know."

"You don't have to be. You're the one who suggested the mistress angle after all."

"I'm not becoming anyone's mistress. Did you not hear the part about how terrible it is for the people in those forced marriages that end up seeking out secret lovers?"

Azera drummed her fingers again, this time less out of impatience with Maarani's whinging and more because she was somewhat willing to admit that she was the one at fault, if not outright just yet. Truly a rare occurrence.

"Have you considered that we don't have to become lovers? Soulmates aren't necessarily actual mates…"

Maarani rolled her eyes in a very exaggerated way while moving to get up and retrieve her lightsaber. "It's a Twi'lek thing, okay? I don't mean in a religious way, just fundamentally. We can screw around all we want, but once we find that true bond there's no ignoring it. I mean I tried killing Izan because I was that upset over realizing that was what our mind link meant, but I've gotten over it. This is how things are, it's either you or a lifetime of vapid and finite relationships."

"Amazing, Tegama'Arani finally manages to define the reality of her existence. Ashla and Bogan be my witnesses of this monumental occasion."

"Oh shut up already."

"Our first lover's quarrel? If you don't count the two times I've tried to kill you personally, they're a bit beyond quarrels I suppose. And we weren't lovers at that point either."

"We're not lovers right now at this very moment. So again, shut up."

Maarani made it as far as the door before stopping in the most inevitable feeling of regret yet. Something she hadn't expected when first going in. "I'd rather sort most of my problems out before we start discussing the less urgent things. Mystery man and Lady of Sorrows are the priority, more or less. Until then, let's table the rest."

"Agreed. In that case, I leave it to you to ask your Zeltron friend to not be so disgusted when calling us lovers. That's twice today alone."

Confronting Izan after how they had left things was not something Maarani wanted to do. But it had to happen before he left altogether. "He's not rude by nature. And I'm not just saying that because of all the times he's saved me. I'll try and straighten… sort that out before we arrive."

"That was so forced I'm starting to wonder if you really are cut off from it."

Maarani stood there looking completely dumbfounded while she tried to find a comeback, only to give up with a sound of disgust and storm out into the corridor at long last.

"If only I knew that wit was all it took to break her down back then..."

Azera sighed, and then settled back into her meditation. She had learned quite a lot more than just how to win arguments with Maarani, and more importantly get under her skin, but for the moment, that was still what she found most satisfying about their little chat.

* * *

"Could you kindly stop insinuating things with Azera?"

Izan's belated sigh sounded louder than usual, possibly thanks to the particular acoustics of the cockpit. His swivel around in the chair only compounded how uncaring he was at that moment.

"You're the one who kept obsessing over the issue. Funny how it went from 'how will I deal with this horrible turn of events' to 'this is perfectly fine and acceptable and shame on you all for not taking it at face value'."

Maarani's hands gripped onto her jacket for some amount of restraint. "This being a voluntary thing still stands. I'm just asking for you to lay off the snark until we've parted ways, okay?"

"I'm surprised the Sith Lord has feelings to hurt."

"She's not the one being hurt by it."

The second sigh from him was more restrained. Not quite regretful, but certainly not carrying that tone of exasperation. He still hadn't decided to turn around and face her fully.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think you're getting your hopes up. Ask yourself for a moment, if the only thing different about all this, was if Kiarna was male."

The cold shiver that touched Maarani's lekku made her hiss in a moment of discomfort. His point was clear enough. And yet, her rationale held firm.

"I don't think the Lady would do that to me. We can't just assume that her being a man wouldn't affect anything else. That's not how it works. And even then, my trust in Azera is not because she happens to be a woman, and that's what I find attractive. For all I care, you could be the Sith'ari, the future Galactic Emperor, and I would still give you the same kind of trust I'm giving her now, based on what the Lady told me as well as what has happened since we lost the _Distant Star_. This is not about appeasing my soulmate. I'd think working towards peace with the Empire and the Sith would be a little more important than that to anyone in my position."

She had to take a few breaths after that unintentional speech, which still hadn't convinced him to face her, to her further annoyance.

"Oh come on Izan, I'm still only asking you to lay it off. I really don't think less of people who aren't going to join in this mad crusade for peace. That's what the Following is for."

"And there it is…"

At long last, he made that turn to face her, only now the smugness had returned in full. Never before had his bright pink face looked so punchable to her.

"You're getting real comfortable with the idea that you've been handpicked by a Force deity to bring peace to the galaxy with an army of mystery people you know nothing about. And better yet, if that fails, you'll have the Sith Empress for a wife, which means the whole Empire at your fingertips by proxy. Like I said, you've gone from things getting worse and worse, to a future that just works out so well for you no matter how things turn out. I'm not going to buy that you'll remain grateful once you've got your magic powers back when that's what's waiting for you beyond, so don't try and sell me on this altruistic stint. For once, Dana has the right idea."

He rose from the pilot's chair and made his way out, all while she stood there, her expression having turned cold.

"I'm not going to become the next Darth Revan, or Darth Bane. I'm not out to conquer, I just want the war to end. Forever if possible."

"You keep thinking that. Thing is, if there really is such a thing as a 'good' Sith, then there's also 'bad' Jedi by deduction, the sort that don't actually turn dark. And who the hell is going to be ready to stop them, when there's no way to tell who they really are before it's all over? Don't think sticking to the light means you can't ever do wrong."

Once he was very much gone, she stuck her tongue out at him and made her way over to the pilot's seat. Her mood was considerably worsened for having her attempt to settle concerns met with blatant accusations of that kind.

"Like you're the one who gets to make calls on who's good and who's not around here. Dumbass."

The _Vastes_ was on the last stretch of their portion of the Corellian run by then, almost at the point where she would have to divert off course and hope that her luck in finding the planet without problems on the way held out twice.

"Okay, long range scanners, where are you…"

That was one set of controls she had forgotten to ask about when Azera gave her a more thorough overview of the layout. The same applied to internal communications, typically meaning a trip back to her quarters.

"Oh, right. Azera, where are the long range scanners?"

She tightened her lips to help with concentrating while she waited for a hopeful answer in her mind. If it did work, then what had originally been a true bother, and more recently an awkward fact of reality, had finally proven to be of some practical use at last.

 _Weren't you paying attention? They're a subset of the scanner array, third row._

"I must've blanked on that part entirely, you sure we covered it?"

 _Very sure. And please tell me you're not going to use our Force bond to ask more of these trivial questions in future, I am still trying to meditate._

"Sorry, next time I'll be sure to pose a thought provoking thesis on the nature of existence before asking my dumb trivial question."

She got to work on those scanners. The process itself was expectedly slow, given the sheer distances involved, leaving her with far too much idle time, and thus a greater temptation to try making more conversation despite knowing full well how annoying it would be.

"I take it you heard everything I told Izan?"

 _Based on the fact that you ended it by calling him a dumbass, I assume it was not a good result._

"Putting it lightly. I think we'll all be better off once he's secured passage to wherever he wants to go. Don't think there's much chance of him sticking around now."

When the scanners finally turned up a result, she went quiet again to recheck the findings. To her relief at the search not being prolonged, what turned up on the planetary readout resembled what she recalled quite closely. More than enough to justify the new heading.

"So, I've been thinking, if the Force is both an entity with a will of its own, and a cosmic energy that can be channeled in various ways at the same time, how exactly can it have divergent alignments and still be the one being?"

 _You're about to ask another trivial question, aren't you?_

"Where's internal communications?"

The lack of an answer made her shrink down into her chair just a little at what was almost certainly coming her way. At least she stuck to her assurance of giving warning that she was going to be annoying.

"That question of yours is moot by the way."

Azera was already making the small climb up the stairway, her expression hidden of course, but her tone of voice was very much that of exasperation. "The Force is not a conscious entity. It has impulses, can guide certain people and events through moments of influence, but it does not actively do anything by choice. You might as well ask how a river can source a water trough, a waste disposal plant and an industrial electrolyzer all at once, as if it had to choose only one of those results at a given time."

"I'm not exactly known for being super smart you know. Don't ask me what all this extra brain matter in these is for. I literally couldn't tell you either way." She lightly grabbed her lekku and waved them around slightly to emphasise her point.

"I have wondered why a race with supposedly greater cranial mass than most humanoids has such a strong lean towards degrading and minimal intellectual activities, such as convulsing chests and hips for the entertainment of others."

"You're still not going to let that one drop huh? Even Cecile has, and I still don't know why she had that impression stuck in her components to begin with!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall some reports from Ketaris about a Rutian Twi'lek coming into the employ of Smirged the Hutt for a couple of days as a dancer, who then proceeded to streak through the streets while wielding a red lightsaber. Care to confirm or deny said reports?"

Maarani's lip curled in very tightly. "I wasn't streaking. I had beads, and a cloak around my waist."

"Yes, I'm sure the beads made all the difference."

"In any case, I was undercover…" She tightened her hands at having walked into yet another opportunity for Azera to make remarks at her expense, something that was happening far too frequently for her taste. "Visas suggested that I use that guise, since I needed to talk with Smirged and there weren't a whole lot of ways to do that without being spied on. And I may have called her a racist bitch too. Maybe I'm the racist for thinking it might just be a Miraluka thing."

"Just assume we're all racist and spare us the headache of debating it please. I only tease and mock because it seems to be a good way to make you stop talking your head off. Some of the time."

Again with no rebuke to that, Maarani opted for changing her subject of attention altogether. "I still would like to know where the intercom is."

Azera reached out to the controls herself, actually using her fingers to do all the work rather than gesturing at them so Maarani would learn the process properly. "There's four others on this ship, two of which probably won't want to help anyway."

"Dana said she would, and it is something the Jedi should've done a better job of investigating to begin with. Izan can stay here and sulk for all I care. And well, as far as Cecile is concerned, I'll go ask her myself once we've landed."

"Ask? This is a droid we're talking about."

That time, Maarani was less awkward about returning her attention to piloting the ship as they finally dropped out of hyperspace. "She's different."

Her next draw of breath had an uncomfortable rasp to it. The planet was just as she remembered. Dominated by a vast landmass in the southern hemisphere, wracked by storms that such wide oceans brewed up as a result. Not a pleasant place to live out a life of isolation at all.

"You sure you remember exactly where you landed, nearly a decade ago?"

"Western coast, somewhere on the northern side. The storms weren't as strong nearer the equator on that day."

Compared to riding down through the turbulent atmosphere in a miniscule, barely hyperspeed capable craft, the _Vastes_ didn't so much as rumble, despite the sensors reading off some pretty wild weather patterns. The _Distant Star_ would have been shaking and jerking about in that state.

It was after they cleared the stratosphere that she finally made that ship wide call, cruising through the bleak grey skies over that rocky coast.

"We're just above touchdown, more or less. Might want to dress warm, probably a good time to get used to surface atmosphere again. Dalchon isn't the nicest place from what I've been told, not that this is paradise anyway."

"Dry planets rarely are nice."

She switched the intercom off and returned her full attention to locating the exact island in question. "You and Jayden are the only ones who have been there recently. I wouldn't even count on that Rodian working in the same place he was when I met him. In any case, I'd rather spend more time here than there."

It was a long search in silence from there until she finally spotted familiar coastline, and eventually the place itself. Her memory of the landscape was vague enough to make her wonder if they could even land a larger craft there safely, let alone one the size of the _Vastes_ , but drawing closer put that concern to rest when she spotted a suitably wide gravel beach.

"This'd be a good time to say that I'm counting on you having the best senses of the group. If there's anything at all to be found here…"

"I can meditate at the top of the island for a more thorough search through the Force. If you really think there's anything left to find here."

Maarani chewed on her lower lip again. That was always the real question in the end. "I just want to confirm that what Sloane dug out of my head is true. That's my part of this. All I can ask you and Dana is to feel around for anything in the Force that would have made him decide to choose this place as his hermit hovel. It's way too much of a coincidence that we met like that."

"Oh I'm not so sure. He quite possibly just happened to be caught in similar storm patterns and had to land there just as you did when he first arrived. Just saying it's not entirely beyond reason that this was a freak coincidence."

"Even so, the exact same planet in this vast galaxy?"

"We're still assuming that our 'friend' was lying and did not in fact set it up so you'd have to land on that exact planet as supposedly instructed?"

A nod was all Maarani gave as they finally came to a halt over the landing zone at last. "Check surface stability while I ease us down."

Azera got to work on that, bringing up a holographic readout of what was on the respective screen so she could actually see it for herself. "No sign of subsidence, or extremely loose matter on that note. I suppose the ocean here is so fierce that sand doesn't have a chance to build up, and all that remains is larger rocks."

"Thank you for the oceanography report Azera. Deploying landing struts."

By then, she wasn't even surprised when they touched down with barely a shake. Even the cushioning mechanisms were of high quality it seemed, impressive for uneven terrain.

"Well, seeing as we didn't cover where the boarding ramp is either…"

"At the time there wasn't much point in detouring to a place that was sealed off for spaceflight anyway."

Azera rose to her feet with grace to lead the way down through the ship to said ramp. By her own specific instruction when overseeing the design of the _Vastes_ , the path itself from the cockpit to the ramp was very direct, and went along the corridor leading to all of the quarters for the convenience of those that were to travel with her.

Of course, Maarani hadn't bothered to look herself before then anyway. The lowest she had gone was the droid bay, where she stopped again to check in on Cecile as promised. The brief conversation was more than enough to convince her that she was getting the right idea about her freedom, choosing to continue her own maintenance over joining them on the surface.

When they finally descended the ramp itself together, they were met by the sound of light rain, and distant thunder across the ocean expanse. Only the rise of the island itself stood between the _Vastes_ and the broad grey-blue horizon.

"We'll wait here for the others. Not like it'll be hard to get back in a pinch, but still…"

"As you wish."

Thankfully, Jayden and Dana weren't too far behind, the latter trailing behind a little to glare at Azera until Maarani frowned her off it.

"Spare the argument, please?"

Unlike how things had panned out with Izan, Dana seemed to back down from her hostility, if only a little. It still showed some amount of willingness to tolerate their change of situation at last.

"Where do you want us, Teegs?"

"Azera thinks she can get a read on the place by meditating on the highest spot. I wouldn't mind a little company for when I find the crash site. Not exactly memories I'd want to retrace without solid reasons."

Jayden waited until certain that Dana had agreed to that before stepping off the ramp for her own idea. "I'll do a lap around the island, look for anything like fishing equipment, or signs of aquatic craft. He might have had his own spaceship stashed somewhere nearby to escape with, but he still had to eat, right?"

"He did mention that fish was the only food he had, having hunted all the other wildlife off the island I guess."

"I'll let you know if I spot anything then."

And with that, she put her helmet on and jogged off along the coast southbound.

In the meantime, Azera had been doing a broad search of the island, and only just concluded where her ideal destination was. "This island isn't particularly tall, perhaps forty metres above sea level at the top. I did find a cave about ten metres above the tideline though."

Maarani began to glance down, once again chewing her lip. "That'd be where he made shelter." She took a breath, then looked back up over the slow ascent of damp grass, pitched above the rocky beach by a small, waist high cliff of sorts. The crash site was probably halfway up the incline somewhere towards the middle, based on what she remembered of the topography.

"Guess Izan can find his own way up if he wants the walk. Let's go."

Climbing up that small cliff was thankfully not as difficult, or as dirty as she expected, the grass itself surprisingly resilient when she used it to haul herself up. Dana and Azera she helped up from there to spare them getting knee-deep in wet grass and the mud beneath.

The ascent further up went without much remark. That side of the island seemed to be well protected from the ocean winds, giving it a gentle surface. Not at all like the hard rock paths she recalled traversing to get to the shelter. And she had to make her way around clockwise to do so, giving a much better idea of just where to look for the crash site.

Somewhere around the halfway point, Azera finally parted from them to continue her own climb upward, leaving the pair to begin circling around.

Only after they were well past earshot, and hopefully her Force sight, did the two finally strike up conversation at last.

"Teegs, when we were on Coruscant, and you had just been discharged. Well, this is not what I had in mind when I promised we'd find you a nice girlfriend. I had to say it, okay?"

Maarani tried not to roll her eyes for once, despite the urge. She knew the point Dana was making, and didn't like it, but at the same time a throwback to far simpler days was far from putting her in a bad mood. "When we're not together, we hear what the other says basically all the time now. We haven't actually done anything other than stop hating each other and already the bond has gotten stronger. It really means something to me now. The only hard evidence that tells me I've still got a chance at regaining my powers in the Force."

Dana's hand went to her face as she sighed in an attempt to maintain patience. "I've always believed you'd regain them Teegs, from the moment we set out on this journey of yours. Whatever we've been through, however many times we've argued, I haven't lost sight of that. Actually knowing how you lost them at last doesn't for a moment change that."

"And what's your point? That you feel like I've betrayed you by putting more trust in Azera than yourself? Because believe me Dana, however weird things got back on that planet, I haven't stopped trusting you." She avoided stumbling on a rock in a moment that let her think about her words a little longer. "I'm still a little weirded out by the maternal complex thing, but then I've already got a Force entity watching over me, why not a genocide survivor turned blood donor too?"

"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic to annoy me, or to annoy Azera."

"Both, and she knows it. It's not like I'm doing this just to get her to find a way to shut the other out when we want a little privacy to ourselves individually after all."

 _Yes, you're always so very subtle in every possible way Maarani._

"And just like that, she breaks her silence to be sarcastic back, which means she hasn't worked out how yet."

"If you're trying to build bridges by putting us both in similar dire circumstances, being subjected to your brand of humour is not the way to do it."

"Yes, this is totally me playing therapist for once and resolving the fact that you can't-"

Her moment of frustration was sapped away by the sight of wreckage, sprawled out across a small plateau that was protected from the gales by a ridge further up ahead.

Grass and other plants had already started to cover it over. If any animal life had returned to the island since however, they had not used the various sheltered points in the charred husk of the ship for shelter of their own. Plantlife had reclaimed it, but nature itself had not.

She took a breath. Suddenly, she could taste the salt, seaweed and moisture in the air with perfect clarity, hear birds far behind in the distance, practically see where the fish were swimming in the currents around the island itself. Hear distant voices slowly dying out, as they were all massacred.

All a memory of what she had once been able to perceive about the world around her, and the world so very distant from there. Eight years had dulled her to the sensation of knowing just how limited her senses had become without the flow of the Force.

"It's real. The memories are real."

She could so very clearly envision the stranger on the ridgeline once again, staring down at her younger self huddled against the ship. And yet, she still couldn't for a moment begin to make sense of what his plan was for her.

"Dana?"

"Yeah?"

Maarani shuddered, then began to advance again. "Stay close, please? I feel like I could black out at any moment."

Dana clasped her shoulder firmly, keeping pace all the way. "I'm right here Teegs."

The assurance helped her climb that ridge, and begin retracing her steps down the other side. There were no freshly made footsteps in the grass to follow that time, but she did have a far better understanding of the island's layout.

When they finally did come across the cave itself at long last, she stopped again, only this time it was to bury her face in her hands out of anxiety.

"Please tell me there's no Twi'lek Sith ghost standing in the opening."

"There's nothing Teegs. Not even what would be left of a driftwood door."

Maarani breathed in, lowered her hands, then breathed out.

"Then we're not seeing the same thing."

The very fact that the spectre of the Lady of Sorrows was still shrouded in darkness made it clear she was just appearing from her memories alone. Rather than facing into the cave, she was looking right back at her, the crystal blue eyes and pool of tears at her feet the only things not jet black and ethereal in appearance.

At that moment, Dana shivered uncomfortably. "I assume that it's to do with why I'm suddenly sensing a lot of dark energy inside there?"

Quietly, slowly, Maarani nodded, trying not to take her eyes off that spectre. "Azera, are you absolutely certain Nihilus absorbed the Lady of Sorrows from me?"

The silence between the question and answer only worsened her anxiety.

 _Yes. I'm certain. I haven't sensed a trace of her since you came on board._

"Better get on with your meditation then. There is something very wrong about this place."

She finally broke the stare with that dark spectre to look right at Dana. For the sake of her own sanity, she reached out to clasp her shoulder in turn, to really assure herself of what was real. "I have to face whatever it is in there that's making me see things. You'll get me out if I start screaming, right?"

"Of course. I'm not just leaving you to go inside alone after all."

The next nod from Maarani had a bit of a tremble to it, especially as she handed her lightsaber and blaster over to Dana. "I'd rather not shoot or stab you in a mad panic. Light the way."

After placing the weapons on her belt, Dana ignited her own lightsaber, and promptly walked right through the spectre blocking the doorway without a flinch.

Maarani had to brace herself before doing the same, trying very hard to not look at those glowing eyes again while she walked through without so much as a chill to her lekku. Her temptation to look back proved too strong to ignore, letting her glimpse nothing but ocean through the cave opening.

When she looked back, all was as she remembered it. An old pot hanging over the fire in the middle, a shelf with assorted items, including holocrons to her direct left.

"Cave's empty for you, isn't it?"

Dana lightly waved her lightsaber around the place to illuminate all she could of the hollow. "There's ash, rocks kicked about, some charred bits of wood. Definitely hasn't been here in years. But other than that, yeah, it's…"

On the right hand wall, the blue glow of her lightsaber brought out the contrast of rock wall, and faintly smeared charcoal. Something Maarani could see as well, seemingly the only thing that hadn't been replaced by her memory of the past.

"Mad scrawlings?"

"No. You'd better ask Azera down here. It's ancient Sithspeak, the written form anyway."

"Right. Azera, we could really-"

She glanced at the opening again, right as Azera ducked through and made her way over to the wall in question.

"I decided to look elsewhere first when I felt a sudden shift in the dark side here. No other place on the island is even remotely charged with Force energy."

Her mask glinted a little in the glow of Dana's lightsaber. "And now we know a little more about the stranger it seems."

Dana moved to the side, a little uncomfortable about the matter, but choosing not to voice that discomfort. "I only learned the common form of Sithspeak, as Suroni when the Vahl fought with Exar Kun, and as part of my own private studies. This is something I can't read."

"It seems there's a stroke of fortune to my being here then. Otherwise you would have been waiting far longer to make sense of this."

Azera slowly reached her hand out, keeping it some distance from the wall itself as she hovered her fingertips over the scrawlings.

"Beware the Lady. She bears…" She stopped, and turned her head to Maarani fully. "The Red Tear."

Maarani once again chewed her lip. Things were getting a little closer to making sense.

"He knew I had the Lady of Sorrows in my head." She reached up to rub at a throbbing pain that had begun to set in. "Why not kill me then? Why bother going to the effort of cutting me off from the Force? If he believed the Lady of Sorrows was such a significant threat-"

She winced at the pain in her head growing stronger, faltering from the wall, until it surged into full blown agony.

"Teegs!"

While she cried out, she could barely hear Azera doing the same before her hearing was overwrought by a sharp ringing. Both drawing closer together, both experiencing the same kind of pain, just as she had warned.

* * *

"Save yourself the trouble and run me through. I will resist up until the end."

It occurred to her immediately that she was reliving the encounter on Sarka, given Kiarna's lightsaber was hovering directly in front of her eyes in preparation for a strike that would blind her. The heated pain in her left lekku from the wood shard that had driven straight through it on crash landing was vivid, as was her silent terror at being completely helpless in that circumstance.

She expected her vision to black out at any moment, only to awaken mid sprint in a desperate flight from the location, the smell of the debris caused by the crash of the _Dodonta's Guidance_ flooding her very breathing.

Instead, Kiarna lowered her lightsaber, and deactivated it altogether.

"I don't think you will. Something tells me you're going to cooperate soon enough." After returning the lightsaber to her belt, she knelt down and removed the glove on her left hand, while gesturing towards that wood shard with her right. "Starting with a favour you'll now owe me."

Her left hand locked Maarani into full bodily stasis while the right slowly drew that wood shard from her lekku with a sickening noise. Once clear, she moved that bare hand over to clasp around the open wound, the tips of her fingers holding the exit shut while her palm pressed over the entry. Only then did she release the stasis.

Maarani's cry of pain rang out through the forests while she flailed against Kiarna's arm in agony, not for a moment wanting to let her continue with whatever unfathomable thing she was doing to her lekku.

"Let go! Let go you bitch!"

A little over a minute later, Kiarna did just that, ignoring the very light bruises inflicted on her arm to give Maarani a little space to recoil back, and eventually look over her handiwork.

"I don't often use my power to heal, let alone out of pity. Consider yourself very fortunate, Twi'lek."

Maarani was fixated on the freshly healed wound at that moment, utterly stunned by how quickly the pain had subsided. It didn't feel like anything sinister had been left behind, or that it was simply a surface job ready to be undone at a whim.

"You owe me now. My master seeks a particular member of Blue Squadron for reasons of her own, and while you may not be that individual, I believe you will be of use in other ways. After all, on recollection, I do believe your mother mentioned you indirectly, right before her beheading..."

"Go to hell. I'm not a sympathiser!"

Kiarna clenched her fist and yanked it upward, pulling Maarani to her feet with a small crackle of raw dark Force energy.

"Last chance. You can choose to come with me, or you can come with me as a prisoner. Either way-"

"Should've killed me instead! I won't break! You don't know what I've been through! I won't break!"

"Keep thinking that." Kiarna began to reach out her hand for a more direct means of invading her mind, all while Maarani struggled against the Force grip helplessly.

"I'm not like my sister! You don't-"

Without any apparent cause, she suddenly felt the hold on her disappear momentarily, enough for the straining muscles in her right arm to jack knife her fist right up towards the underside of Kiarna's jaw where her mask did not reach.

All Kiarna had experienced was a momentary sense of dread, enough to break her concentration just long enough for the swing to begin. Before it connected, she grabbed Maarani's wrist tightly, deflecting enough of the blow to get her back under control.

"Try that again and you lose the hand! I knew you were lying about not wielding the power of the Force!"

The grip tightened until Maarani began to grind her teeth in the crunching pain that threatened to break her wrist inward. The rest of her body was still very much immobile.

"I'm not lying! I'm not-"

An icy shock blasted through her head, pulling it back with her eyes wide. Her whole body trembled a little, starting to work free of Kiarna's hold over her.

Crystal blue tears began to seep down over her face.

The power struggle very quickly turned against Kiarna. She couldn't even release the hold she had on Maarani's wrist while the Lady of Sorrows brought her strength to bear. The voice of warning was gone from her mind, replaced by the quiet sound of the mask's transceiver receiving messages. Direct warnings she couldn't answer to, or even respond to with a plea for help.

Maarani's head slowly tilted forward again as the takeover began to peter out, with Sorrows in control. "You're right, little Sith. I do owe you a favour for releasing me of my bonds. Be the first of my return to supremacy as reimbursement."

Her hand twisted around and began to push forward against Kiarna's struggle, drawing closer and closer to the mask that began to glow brightly in response.

"Drown in my river of tears… Miraluka."

"Not yet!"

The voice that called out caused Maarani to stop just short of making contact with the mask, right before both their minds were drawn away into the realm of shatterspace, leaving the struggle frozen indefinitely.

* * *

Kiarna sprawled to the dust in a coughing fit, clutching at the pain wrought on her chest with one hand, while reaching up to get her mask off for more air with the other.

The feeling of touching her face outright made her recoil in a panicked search for her mask that had somehow come free of her face.

It further illuminated her to her new surroundings, that of long, windswept plains, covered in yet more dust. There was no sign of her mask, but there were other figures present in the vicinity. When she tried to discern more, all she found was a haze. The Force itself was somehow behaving in a fundamentally different manner to what she knew in the strange realm she had been pulled to, and it was only adding to the growing dread within.

Calling out to those nearby seemed futile, and yet that was exactly what she ended up doing.

"What is this? Why bring me here?"

From the haze ahead emerged one of the figures. Soon, she could make out facial features that matched her own, though the attire was entirely different.

The voice was definitely hers.

"We are responsible for this. You acted too soon. I failed to stop you."

Kiarna's fist tightened up inside her glove. "Let me guess, my 'light half'?"

The other shook her head. "We are not Azera herself, simply guises of hers. You have been in place for so long you have forgotten that. I haven't."

In a blatant show of disregard for the other 'guise', Kiarna waved her off in a rather explicit way while marching ahead towards where she was sensing the others.

"I knew there was far more to her. This ends now."

* * *

At the same time, Maarani found herself in the odd brown landscape as wind and dust howled around her, tugging on the Jedi robes that had somehow replaced her flight suit. She could feel a freezing mesh of sorts clinging to the back of her head, slowly spreading across while she whimpered in the wasteland around.

"Your time in the world of the living is over, Maarani. Give up, surrender yourself to me, end your existence."

She couldn't turn her head thanks to the mesh keeping it firmly in place, but she could catch a glimpse of the voice to her left just a little. The most she caught was sight of a pale white lekku, and part of the figure's left eye, rivulets of bright blue running down from it out of view.

"Maarani!"

Her eyes moved back to the area ahead. In the distance stood a woman, her blonde hair whipping in the wind, as did her long red coat that adorned her body from collar to ankle. She couldn't make out much of the face, but she was familiar nonetheless.

"Help me! I want this to end! Help!"

As the woman in red drew closer, she was startled by yet another figure moving in front of her, and soon grabbing onto her shoulder. This time, what little she could see was very familiar, as if a reflection of herself, only backwards from what she would expect to see in a mirror. She could only make out a black marking that ran from the top of her forehead down to just above the corner of her lip, and a bit of grey right down the middle of her face.

"Maarani, you need to fight her off. She will destroy your mind. I can only do so much to protect you and Azera. Do not let her win."

"I… I can't!"

The Twi'lek on her right drew closer, enough to whisper in her ear without being drowned out by the howling wind.

"You already failed to fulfil your purpose as the vanguard of the Jedi. You have failed to defend the people you swore to protect time and again. You will fail in her purpose for you as well. It is inevitable."

She wanted to reach up and claw at the growing mesh that was encroaching towards her face, and already working down her lekku. The core of it right behind the top of her spine had transitioned to a burning cold, seeping deeper and deeper into her neck.

"Maarani you must hold on. A little longer and I can-"

The hum of a lightsaber seemed to cut through the very gales around them all. Kiarna was just metres away, a bright red blade in her left hand, ready to cut them all down if needed.

"More guises? A Jedi, a crying wretch, and…" She gestured the lightsaber at the Lady of Balance. "Whatever you're supposed to represent."

Hearing Kiarna's voice made Maarani tremble even more. Her cry for help had quite literally just made things worse.

The Lady of Balance on the other hand was concerned for different reasons. "Azera, do not interfere! You are already at risk, anything more will put you in extreme danger!"

Kiarna looked over the trio, and after some thought, began to focus her attention on the one to the right. Being the most quiet of them gave the impression she was the most dangerous threat. The two instances of Maarani she could deal with after once rid of the problem.

"I will not be lectured by the apparently missing confidence of a lowly Twi'lek!"

She charged towards the Lady of Sorrows, lifting her lightsaber for a decisive blow against her.

That was stopped short by a flick of the wrist, causing Kiarna to clutch at her neck where a new icy mesh was beginning to grow out.

"The spread has begun, Balance. I will retake the galaxy."

"I have other ways of stopping you! Your time is over, and you will not take my Chosen or her mate from me!"

The landscape of shatterspace dissolved around them all, leaving Maarani and Kiarna back in their forest standoff once again.

Immediately, Maarani recoiled from the grip, falling back into the undergrowth behind. The crystal blue tears had stopped, leaving her in control of herself again for the time being.

Kiarna was about to go for her lightsaber, then stopped, her hand shaking out of raw anger at the realization she could not in fact cut her down on the spot. Her pleading for just that fate now made a lot more sense.

"What an elaborate plan. Lure me in, wait until certain I was marked, then have me kill your host so you could take over. I'm not falling for it, whatever you are."

Maarani shook her head, trying to fight back the tears that felt ready to come again. "I'm not… I don't want this…"

"Save it! Consider yourself lucky if anything!" Kiarna reached up to her mask, finally able to reinstate contact with the command ship. "Now you're guaranteed to live, long enough for I and the others to-"

Just as she brought the transceiver back online, she spotted an anomaly very close by. Movement in the undergrowth, surrounding a complete absence of organic life.

A droid, spying on the whole matter.

" _Shadow Hand, what is your situation? Why did you cease communication? Respond._ "

"Show yourself, spy!"

Her lightsaber whipped out to her hand as she went to hurl it at the droid, right as Maarani scrambled from her spot and began sprinting away at breakneck speed.

"Maarani stop!"

Before she could chase her, or the nearby droid, a harsh ringing pain tore through her mind, once again freezing her in place.

 _I cannot let you pursue this course of action, Azera. I am truly sorry for what must be done._

The pain lasted for several more seconds before vanishing abruptly, leaving Kiarna with no memory of anything that had happened beyond the point where she had prepared to burn Maarani's eyes out.

" _Shadow Hand, if you don't respond immediately, we will send an extraction team._ "

She fumbled around the left lip of her mask for a moment, confused at the sudden blackout, and more importantly at how Maarani had simply vanished from in front of her. "I'm here. The pilot however…"

For all her searching, she could not find the Twi'lek in question. Something very strange had occurred indeed. "I am returning immediately. Inform any remaining search parties to keep their eyes open for a Twi'lek before they are recalled."

Before heading on the path back to her shuttle, she knelt down and moved her hand toward where the Twi'lek had been kneeling. There were definitely imprints left in the soft dirt, and she could not sense any residual energy dissipating back into the Force. Not a hallucination.

"What are you, Maarani?"

* * *

Both Maarani and Azera woke up at the same moment in a loud gasp of shock before they both fell back to the lounges they had been laid out on.

The exact timing of it all left Dana concerned as she looked between them both, remaining by the former's side exclusively. "Take it easy. You're safe."

Maarani immediately reached up to cover her stinging eyes, waiting for that to pass before finally lowering her hands a little to look over at Azera. Her mask was lying on a table nearby, meaning everyone else had now seen her face beneath.

"You both collapsed in the cave. Jayden and I got you back here as quickly as we could. Izan didn't feel confident enough to make for orbit through the storms while you were unconscious."

A sensible precaution, though it was a matter that was very far from her top concerns. Once she had the strength, she made herself sit up, and waited for the nausea to subside on its own. "I finally remember what happened on Sarka. The Lady of Balance blocked out those memories, so I wouldn't let the Lady of Sorrows out by mistake."

"We both remember. My memory of that day has been blocked until now as well, for the same reason in fact."

Azera was slower to sit up, though she did make a point of putting her mask back on before doing so. The insistence on keeping it on was something she hadn't forgotten.

"t seems the Lady of Sorrows was waiting for an opportunity to move on from Maarani by having myself or another Sith kill her." Azera sighed deeply, tilting her head forward to rest it against her hand. "There are many good reasons why the Sith don't employ the more archaic forms of dark magic in this age, unless they are demented and desperate like Exar Kun was in his final days. I can't begin to imagine just what kind of meddling in the Force warped her into a being that spreads in the form of a mental contagion."

Noting Dana's complete confusion, and Maarani's mix of that and quiet horror, she ended up scoffing to herself softly. "Now we know why the HK-50's tried to kill me, and capture you, Maarani. Like it or not, I think that stranger of yours did you a favour by stopping the Lady of Sorrows from breaking out eight years ago."

"Somehow I don't think he'll call them off just because we tell him that she's gone for good."

It was still an answer to a longstanding question all the same, quite a few in fact. What she had assumed was the HK-50 goading her suicidal tendencies, despite the strange conflict of motives, finally made sense as instead being the lingering voices of the Lady of Sorrows. The droid itself had apparently watched the whole thing occur, and gleaned enough information to make a vague guess at what had transpired, though clearly without some of the crucial details, leading to all the events that had resulted from it.

The inexplicable healing of her lekku, the vision of a blonde woman in red while meditating with Bastila, being pursued by droids with seemingly no clear goal from their current employer. The constant struggle between her bouts of crippling depression and moments of raw determination.

And yet, there were still gaps in her memory to be filled.

"Azera…"

The words caught up on her tongue as she looked over at that cold, imposing mask. Now that she had seen her true face, without all the scarring and damage to it, what had once appeared horribly ugly she could only perceive as tragic. Something she could probably apply to Azera as a whole.

"Thank you, for healing this." She pointed at the scar on her lekku, deciding to say no more about what they had recalled together. After all, they were both very different people back then.

Azera simply nodded in a solemn manner. "It wasn't for the right reasons at the time. But, I appreciate your intent. You are welcome."

"I think it's time we paid that Rodian a visit. He's got a lot to answer for."


	52. Political Ploy

"Stand to!"

Troopers lined the left side, officers the right. For once, no Sith were present, something that Morgak was grateful for in of itself, though the reason behind their absence was still yet another headache that could only be delayed until it became a more prime concern of his.

He let that concern slip from mind while watching the arriving ship come in for landing, situated with precision at a respectable distance from the end of the greeting assembly.

"Present arms! Diplomatic stance!"

Every one of the troopers drew their blaster rifles and held them across their chests at safe angles, completing the display of discipline and strength for the arriving guests.

The boarding ramp began to lower. Over his shoulder, he could hear a few of the diplomatic attaches inhaling to maintain their own admittedly less refined stance, but nothing that was worth calling out in the seconds remaining before the crucial first face to face meeting began.

Two guards strode down first, taking up positions either side of the ramp, armed with ceremonial spears in hand, blaster pistols and whips at their hips. Exactly as described in the request to carry arms aboard.

While the helmets concealed most features, it did give light to the fact that they had large ears, something that drew a few slight head tilts from those in the procession.

That was compounded when the main guest himself finally descended, a proud smile on his face as he strode out onto the deck at last, subordinates and slaves in his wake. Just a metre in front of Morgak himself, he made a polite bow in respect.

"General Morgak. A pleasure."

Morgak did the same, while those accompanying him remained stationary, keeping to custom. "Overseer K'Srin. I extend the formal greeting of the Galactic Empire to you and your compatriots of Zygerria."

K'Srin smirked, then tilted his head at his second, who began organizing the procession of slaves into single file. "Consider them a gift. They are all well trained, and properly prepared for whatever use you might have for them.

It presented a moment of discomfort that Morgak managed to deflect by passing the matter onto others with a simple nod, leaving himself with the opportunity to lead the conversation elsewhere.

"We have a secure holding block that should suffice for keeping them. Not prisoner level accommodation, we do maintain a standard of treatment for detainees after all."

"Good. It is unwise to allow resentment to fester in a mind that has already been broken. Almost as unwise as it is to allow hopes to rise back up. They require different handling from those the Sith take for recruits after all."

They had begun to move back down the procession line by then, allowing for a bit of space between them and their respective entourages. Morgak was ready to take advantage of that brief opportunity.

"You are well informed then. Commendable."

"It is not the work of spies I assure you." K'Srin cracked a smirk, catching the implication decisively. "We Zygerrians have an enduring memory. But I shall leave discussing how I learned of the ways of the Sith for a more suitable environment."

"Yes, they've just completed refurbishing the station commander's office. Unparalleled views of Lianna's surface."

"I am certain the story of how you came to hold these shipyards for the Empire is of great intrigue." At that, K'Srin looked to his second, whispering into her ear momentarily, then watching as she went on ahead. "I do hope you won't mind her joining us? My niece, as well as one of my most trusted advisors. We as a people hold great value in our circle of relatives."

Morgak left his response at a simple nod.

"Your hospitality is excellent, and appreciated, General Morgak."

"Unlike the Republic, we only give respect and accommodation to those who are deserving of it. That is our ward against bureaucracy."

* * *

The bridge had been cleared well before Darth Rak'Sakar sensed Sloane's arrival there. The sight of Lianna's sunlight streaming through the window, eclipsed only by the main shipyard, had provided him with a simple means of focusing his mind in preparation for the exchange to come.

Sloane herself had a massive gash across the left cheekbone, courtesy of where Jayden had struck her. Her posture, the no-longer pristine lengths of hair beneath the dented headdress, even her expression gave away just how turbulent her state of mind was.

"Am I here to beg for forgiveness, to be spared execution? Why recall me?"

Rak'Sakar said nothing for a while. His only action in that time was to idly scratch at a mark on the floor with the largest claw on his right foot. A pause that he could tell was upsetting Sloane further.

"Twenty three troopers killed, forty seven critically wounded. Fifteen Sith of various skill dead, more with irreparable injuries. All because you let a lone Zeltron walk off your ship."

What little restraint there was in Sloane's mind broke at that moment. Her hands clenced together until they turned white, as did her jaw while her teeth came very close to being dulled, all symptomatic of the building rage within.

"Sloane, are you going to throw a tantrum and walk back out, or will you explain what really happened?"

It took a while, but the rage within finally died out. So gutting was the feeling of letting it all go that she nearly fell to her knees in self-inflicted agony. Years of training her mental fortitude kept her standing upright.

"We horrifically underestimated the threat of the Following. The ancient presence that protects them, the Lady of Balance, her power is omnipresent. She is growing closer towards becoming omnipotent."

Rak'Sakar's jaw clenched in slightly. "Such individually concentrated power within the Force should not be possible."

Sloane's hands tightened right back up as she recalled that sickening day. "I was ready to cut through Maarani's neck, I swung the blade! And the Lady stopped me!" Her mouth was trembling, possibly out of terror, when she took her next breath. "She exists outside the realm of the Force, and she is not going to leave the dark side be. I am convinced of that."

"In that case, how do we proceed? How do we shield ourselves against a being as powerful as that?" Rak'Sakar approached slowly, stopping within a metre of her, removing that feeling of distance. "There are few things that can't be done given time and resources. If the threat is truly this severe, we would be ignorant not to take every effort required to stop it."

It took several deep breaths for Sloane to muster up the strength to admit what had been pressing on her mind that whole time. "I don't know. Lasidia didn't divulge what she knew about Maarani to me, about her connection to the Lady. She recognized her presence, she clearly knew her significance well before anyone else did. And, she also had access to all those holocrons. She would be the one best suited to discern how we stop the Lady. And yet, she still hasn't returned after all this time…"

The implication caused Rak'Sakar to narrow his gaze just a little. "Revealing anything about her whereabouts would jeopardize her mission, more than it already has been by her clear delay. She should have returned to us months ago yes, but if she had been discovered, or killed, we would all feel that disturbance. Therefore, we cannot rely on what she may know."

"And responsibility falls back to myself, and the best efforts of my scryers." The bleak reality of the situation actually brought about a strange calm to Sloane, the final acceptance of having to deal with things as they were. "To begin with, we need to avoid Maarani at all costs. That includes forcing Kiarna to abandon her pursuit when she returns from Katarr."

Rak'Sakar hummed in thought, then nodded to the doorway that Sloane had come through. "Then that is something we must look towards accomplishing first…"

The doors opened to Bellara at that moment, stoic and silent as ever, her head tipped low in respect as she drew closer, and then knelt down before the two Sith Lords.

"Bellara, you will be working with Lady Sloane for the time being. It seems you have a shared interest in tracking down Kiarna." When Sloane's confusion became clear, he looked back to her with a grave expression. "A report came in from Dalchon not even an hour ago. Kiarna has been sighted there, very clearly working with a Rutian Twi'lek wielding a red lightsaber, as well as a Mandalorian, a dark skinned Jedi, and a Zeltron."

The revelation hit Sloane quite hard. Wasting lives on a mistake was one thing, but allowing the Shadow Hand herself to be compromised…

"The Lady is even further into her plan than I expected. For the sake of all we have worked to build, we have to recall Lasidia. Even the superweapon itself is not worth this."

Rak'Sakar shook his head, putting an end to that insistence. "Her mission involves more than the superweapon. Formulate whatever plan you can to stop Maarani as well as the Lady of Balance, and free Kiarna from their grasp. And be ready to capitalize on events that occur in the near future. The rest of the fleet will continue as planned, this stays between us, and your most trusted. General Morgak need not be included in a purely Sith matter."

* * *

"A fascinating world, I must say."

K'Srin took a sip from his glass while gazing out over the planet orientated ahead from that angle. A sole landmass dominated that hemisphere, extending out in a giant peninsula around the globe and out of sight altogether. The eastern coast from which the peninsula protruded was dominated by a vast mountain range, towering over the sprawling landscape to the west.

Morgak swirled the wine in his glass for a little while before taking a sip as well, also gazing across the world that was well into beginning early construction of their supplement fleet. A valued military asset, but little more in his eyes.

"Tremendous storms due to the vast ocean space. And yet, they weather each out without so much as a whimper of complaint."

"Sturdiness of body and of mind, built up over the generations. I know the type well."

An Iridonian serving girl approached them both at that moment, hands outstretched to carry the plate of bite size appetizers as far from herself as possible as dictated.

K'Srin was quick to take notice, a smile quickly taking hold at the aroma wafting off the plate. "Your chef knows his craft I see." He took one of the appetizers between two fingers, glancing over the rich blue glaze that held something round to the slice of red fruit beneath. When Morgak declined, he shrugged and took the bite at last, sighing in delight at the taste given.

"Corellian born, raised and trained. Dare I say it would be harder to find a finer chef that is not already bound to quite the hefty contract."

He watched the serving girl continue on to the rest of the room, leaving him with a moment's breath. "I am pleased it is to your liking regardless. Tales of your culinary artisans do find their way across the galaxy to us. Not that he doesn't appreciate the challenge."

When K'Srin was finished, he lightly wiped his lips clean with a napkin provided by another of his slaves, a contented hum following after while he brought his hands to rest behind his back.

"Much as I could discuss food at length, there are other questions I would ask you, and answers to some of your own to provide." After Morgak nodded in agreement, K'Srin tilted his head up a little, protruding his chin. "I have noticed your aversion to the slaves. Even the mere mention causes tension in your eyebrows. You clearly do not approve."

"If I did not approve them being onboard, I would have said as much. I do not conceal how I feel about a particular matter, seeing as there is rarely a reason to when dealing with Sith."

There was a visible show of relief on his part at getting his discomfort out of the way. "No, I simply disagree with the notion and the reasoning behind slavery. I have always believed that the individual should be free to work to the best of his or her ability, to prove worth in that regard without destruction of the ego. But it is ultimately a personal viewpoint, and personal views have no business affecting the decisions of a proper military leader."

That brought on an eyebrow raise from his counterpart, but not out of disapproval, or even a lowered opinion as a result of that declaration. "I see. My only question then is why you serve in the Empire, when it is the Republic who champion freedom for all individuals. Especially their Jedi lap dogs who would see us destroyed if not for their war with your Sith. I do not recall hearing the same cry of equality from any of your, predominantly human, troopers."

"My mother was a general in the Republic Army. She served along the greats, like Grand Admiral Dodonna. I know for a fact she would be devastated by the state of the Republic in this age, ruled by greed and bureaucracy. Choking on its own capitalist trash, subject to the whims of hypocritical unions and corporations alike."

His face by then had started to turn just a little red, sliding into the impassioned state that he drew all his conviction from. "I could not change all that from within. Even a malfunctioning droid with all the criminal scum of the galaxy at its disposal could not change it. Therefore, massive force of arms, a tearing down of the old ways is required. That is the only way to truly dredge the Republic from its status as a moral cesspit."

By then, he was entirely absorbed in his own self-justification, oblivious to his rambling speech. "I accepted that I had to be the driving force of innovation, either the Republic would be conquered and reformed, or driven to change through sheer attrition, the inevitable grinding down of will in war. And if the majority of alien worlds choose to cling to their assumptions about the Empire, that is their mistake to make. I have not once rejected a worthwhile trooper nor officer on any grounds, least of which being appearance. If they do not come, if they do not have the makings of an Imperial soldier, that is their fault to correct, and theirs alone."

Everyone else in the room had gone quiet at that moment, the officers because they knew better than to interrupt any of Morgak's speeches, not that they would when he spoke with such pure determination behind his words anyway. K'Srin himself was in mild awe, though he did little to show it other than shifting his shoulders ever so slightly with a small inhale.

The one to break the silence was his second, a wide grin on her face as she stepped forward, all while giving a slow clap.

"You are truly well spoken, good General. I can so easily picture you rallying the masses."

When both men turned to her, she set her hands behind her back as well, gradually moving to stand between them both and gaze out over the surface below as well.

Out of concern about how Morgak would take her presumption, K'Srin subtly placed a hand on her facing shoulder. "Ashter, you have something to add?"

"I do indeed, dear uncle." Despite the concern, she remained unfazed, casting a quick glance at Morgak before setting her feline gaze back. "You have a truly admirable mindset, General. You see the corruption of the Republic for what it is, and you do not accept that it 'simply cannot be changed'. But, however much good will come of tearing it all down in the short term, you must have a plan to replace that system in the long term, else it will be for nothing."

Morgak rolled his tongue in mild discontentment, but eventually chose to hear her out. "I am far from an economist, thus I planned to ensure that others could take up that particular responsibility."

"And where would these 'others' come from? The Hutts are just as corrupt as the Republic in their own way, and while we Zygerrians do business with them, it is out of necessity." Her grin grew a little more, baring her fangs ever so slightly. "We as a people do not function economically for profit, for filling margins and extorting the working class for all they are worth. Slavery is a tradition, it is cultural, it has allowed us to function entirely differently from so many other civilizations in this sprawling galaxy. It is a solid foundation, from which an economy of true equality for all those who are deserving."

She stretched her hand out in a pass over the sight of the other shipyards in the distance to emphasise her coming point. "Imagine the powerhouse that the Empire would become with an economy that is driven by the people, for the people! Those who disobey are put in their place, those who are sensible, who follow your rules and laws are treated far better than they would under the protection of the Republic. No longer subject to the personal whims of companies and politicians, free to pursue the employment and lifestyle they desire. Effective removal of the classes, leaving only that of Imperial citizens, and those who are deemed far more useful when choices are made for them by those citizens."

At that, she turned fully to face Morgak, meeting his deep distrust with a devious look of her own. "You said yourself, you only turn away those who are not worthwhile, everything else is irrelevant. The same would simply apply to the civilian population, as well as your armies. We are not barbaric after all, we do not deal in child labour. So, let each have their opportunity to prove themselves as they come of age, by whatever standards you and the Sith deem. And if they fail, simply turn them over to us, and wash your hands of any guilt you may find yourself experiencing."

It was a lot to take in, though the process of doing so led Morgak to a crucial conclusion. When he had finally gone over it all in his mind, he turned away from the window to pace and think further, only turning back to face both Zygerrians once he was certain of his position.

"You Ashter are the real negotiator for these talks. Might I ask why the ploy?"

"Perceptive, General. It was simply a precaution, we did not know whether or not you would take things quite as seriously coming from a female as you would a male. However, when you made it clear you do not judge by those terms, the pretense was made irrelevant."

Morgak was a little more disgruntled at the assumption rather than the action, even enough to make a point of it. "I assure you, race, colour, gender, orientation, none of those things affect my judgement of character. The majority of officers are human men simply because that is the type that comes to us in the first place. We have yet to reach more densely populated and varied spheres of influence with our cautious expansion after all."

The assurance made K'Srin smile a little more as he whispered to Ashter, who nodded and made her way to the side so that he could speak to Morgak directly once again.

"In that case, might I make a personal request, purely separated from the negotiations I assure you, though I would say I have quite a bit of clout myself should I find things favourable."

"I'm listening."

"A man I loved was ruined and driven to suicide by the actions of a Jedi known as Masadar'Arani, when Kusrag led a testing force to take fresh Twi'lek subjects from his village. We know from Darth Lasidia that he had a surviving daughter aligned with your Sith, and more recently a second, elder daughter, formerly in the Republic Starfighter Corps."

Another unwanted reminder that forced Morgak to affirm himself before the admission. "Masaka is long gone. She became entangled in ghastly ancient Sith magic that drove her to insanity. I lost several good men in her bloodthirsty escape."

"That we did not know, however I did not plan on taking revenge on one who was more favourable to the Empire anyway."

"Quite. Unfortunately, Tegama is also a problem. She and a small group, including two Jedi, laid waste to another of our ships. She even killed one of the Sith stationed there in cold blood. I'm afraid Darth Rak'Sakar will overrule any decision on her fate entirely, even if we were to somehow capture her again."

It took the smile of K'Srin's face, but not his proud demeanour. "A shame, but not entirely unexpected. There is still a great feeling of gratitude among our kind for keeping the Jedi so entirely occupied with this war after all. Had it not come when it did, they may have chosen to come after Zygerria itself before long. Hence our reconsidered stance of neutrality in these times."

"Uncle, General, now that we have made the basis for our case to the Empire…"

"Yes, you certainly have." The proposal itself was much larger than what Morgak had expected, and as military leader it was something he would be ultimately responsible for enforcing. True to his word, he didn't let personal discomfort get in the way of being professional. "You are certain Zygerria as a whole would welcome the prospect of swearing loyalty to the Empress of the Sith? The final decision will rest with her once crowned of course."

Ashter's sly grin remained well in place. "We accepted the partial rule of a Rakata long ago in our history. In exchange for taking a poverty stricken society, and turning it into an economic powerhouse within a couple of years. I believe a strong influence in determining the landscape of the Empire from that economic view will be more than enough in exchange for our king ruling under the Sith Empress. But of course, this is now in the realm of something our respective diplomats must discuss and debate."

After a nod, Morgak looked over to Rasters, gesturing for him to join the group at last as a formality. "Then let us officially open negotiations. Our ship is ready and waiting to take us all back to Ziost, while this station remains open to Zygerrians as a whole."

"I shall instruct our pilot to make the transfer now. For now, we will consult with the rest of our party. Good fortune to you, General Morgak."

K'Srin led the way out, Ashter and the few Zygerrians that had accompanied them following shortly after, leaving the Imperial officers and the slaves gifted to them.

Having listened to the whole exchange, and had plenty of time to process it all without having to hold much of a conversation himself, Rasters felt a bit more confident than usual in speaking up. "That seemed rather easy, if I might be so bold, General."

Morgak sighed while drawing his hands behind his back, very slowly walking around the expanse of the office. "Darth Lasidia should have lead these negotiations. It was her plan to bring the Zygerrians into the fold once we had acquired the means of producing more ships. Clearly she did not anticipate that the political climate of Lianna would swing so heavily in our favour that we could occupy it with such little resistance, and advance the plan by over a year."

"I see…"

"Inevitably, word will reach them of both her absence, and that of Kiarna. We must be prepared to make concessions while Darth Rak'Sakar sees to resolving both those problems in the meantime. Regardless of anything else, we need their cooperation if we are to move forward swiftly. I trust that you can see to it that those under your command give them the same in return?"

That made Rasters pause in mild confusion. "My command?"

"Yes. By the time the _Gauntlet of Malak_ is complete, we will have completed our reinstatement of the three military divisions. I shall have moved to Grand Moff, and there will be a need for a General, an Admiral, and a Chief Marshal respectively. We will have time enough to discuss the logistics at length once all the decisions have been finalized. Now would the time to begin considering which division you would suit best."

* * *

"Your muscle density has improved well beyond what I anticipated so far. Which is good, don't misunderstand."

Sokoli looked down at her arm to watch those muscles beneath her pasty yellow skin as she flexed her arm. A stark difference from how thin it had been when she first woke up.

"I have been keeping to the diet and exercise regimen you prescribed, doctor."

"Good, good." Dr Xilubu exchanged glances between the screen readout of her health scan, and that of what he had recorded previously. A few thoughtful hums later, and he handed both back to the nurse droid to focus on his patient fully. "I think you're ready to be declared fit for travel. Obviously you'll need a bit more time to fully adjust before being given assignments by the Council, but if you wish to visit Shili for a while I can have that cleared by the end of the day."

"Thank you, but I don't feel a desire to leave Coruscant anytime soon. Or the Temple for that matter."

"I see. In that case, I'll see you in two weeks for a follow-up examination. Provided that you maintain the current regimen, I'd say that you'll remain in perfect health indefinitely."

With a roll of her eyes, Sokoli slipped off the bed and reached for her cloak. "I hope so. I would hate to have lost thirty five years of my life to wakeless sleep, only to die in another five."

"Yes I can imagine. Rest assured I am still consulting with psychiatrists and physicians across the galaxy in search of some answer to your memory loss. It is truly perplexing that even Force healing has done nothing to combat it."

There was only a slight pause from Sokoli, her head tilting to the left just a little.

"I also haven't come to a satisfactory conclusion on the height difference. Skeletal tests show your bones have returned to expected density, and yet you've remained basically the same height since you were first brought here."

Again Sokoli paused, this time with a faint sigh as she adjusted the cloak into place around her shoulders. "I still do not recall anything of my life before this. What records I did find indicated that I was daughter to a plains tribe before being sent here for training. Perhaps it is an undocumented hereditary issue?"

"Possibly. Though it would be the first I've heard of one affecting the body in this way."

"I am certain you will find an answer eventually, doctor." With one final adjustment of her lekku, she began making her way out of the hospital wing at last.

"Oh, one more question. Purely out of curiosity.

Sokoli rolled her eyes again, but did come to a stop and half turned to look back at him.

"When you first woke back up, you exclaimed the word 'Azera'. Does it have any significance to you now, compared to then?"

 _Azera, Azera, Azera. Hail to the Sith Empress Azera._

"Nothing comes to mind. It certainly isn't a Togruta word."

Dr Xilubu sighed in bemusement, glancing away briefly before eventually shrugging it all off. "I have yet to look into it myself, seeing as it did not come up in Temple records. I leave that to you then, good luck with the rest of your search into your past."

Just after turning back to continue on her departure, a faint smirk formed on Sokoli's lips.

Her destination was the Archives as it had been every day since she had become capable of walking on her own.

Once there, she sifted through files relating to events following the Jedi Civil War, leading up to the purge. By what record keeping means there were, her search was solely for that of all listings to the name of 'Sokoli Zatu'.

Though she did not consciously know the reason why, her real search had been prompted to much more recent files, specifically those regarding the security systems guarding the holocron vault.

All done right under the view of Atris herself, without a hint of suspicion to be found.


End file.
